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1644

August 1 – History, Events, Births, Deaths Holidays and Observances On This Day

  • 30 BC – Octavian (later known as Augustus) enters Alexandria, Egypt, bringing it under the control of the Roman Republic.
  • AD 69 – Batavian rebellion: The Batavians in Germania Inferior (Netherlands) revolt under the leadership of Gaius Julius Civilis.
  • 527 – Justinian I becomes the sole ruler of the Byzantine Empire.
  • 607 – Ono no Imoko is dispatched as envoy to the Sui court in China (Traditional Japanese date: July 3, 607).
  • 902 – Taormina, the last Byzantine stronghold in Sicily, is captured by the Aghlabids army, concluding the Muslim conquest of Sicily.
  • 1203 – Isaac II Angelos, restored Eastern Roman Emperor, declares his son Alexios IV Angelos co-emperor after pressure from the forces of the Fourth Crusade.
  • 1291 – The Old Swiss Confederacy is formed with the signature of the Federal Charter.
  • 1469 – Louis XI of France founds the chivalric order called the Order of Saint Michael in Amboise.
  • 1498 – Christopher Columbus becomes the first European to visit what is now Venezuela.
  • 1571 – The Ottoman conquest of Cyprus is concluded, by the surrender of Famagusta.
  • 1620 – Speedwell leaves Delfshaven to bring pilgrims to America by way of England.
  • 1664 – Ottoman forces are defeated in the battle of Saint Gotthard by an Austrian army led by Raimondo Montecuccoli, resulting in the Peace of Vasvár.
  • 1714 – George, Elector of Hanover, becomes King George I of Great Britain, marking the beginning of the Georgian era of British history.
  • 1759 – Seven Years’ War: The Battle of Minden, an allied Anglo-German army victory over the French. In Britain this was one of a number of events that constituted the Annus Mirabilis of 1759 and is celebrated as Minden Day by certain British Army regiments.
  • 1774 – British scientist Joseph Priestley discovers oxygen gas, corroborating the prior discovery of this element by German-Swedish chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele.
  • 1798 – French Revolutionary Wars: Battle of the Nile (Battle of Aboukir Bay): Battle begins when a British fleet engages the French Revolutionary Navy fleet in an unusual night action.
  • 1800 – The Acts of Union 1800 are passed which merge the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Kingdom of Ireland into the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.
  • 1801 – First Barbary War: The American schooner USS Enterprise captures the Tripolitan polacca Tripoli in a single-ship action off the coast of modern-day Libya.
  • 1834 – Slavery is abolished in the British Empire as the Slavery Abolition Act 1833 comes into force, although it remains legal in the possessions of the East India Company until the passage of the Indian Slavery Act, 1843.
  • 1842 – The Lombard Street riot erupts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States.
  • 1849 – Joven Daniel wrecks at the coast of Araucanía, Chile, leading to allegations that local Mapuche tribes murdered survivors and kidnapped Elisa Bravo.
  • 1855 – The first ascent of Monte Rosa, the second highest summit in the Alps.
  • 1876 – Colorado is admitted as the 38th U.S. state.
  • 1893 – Henry Perky patents shredded wheat.
  • 1894 – The First Sino-Japanese War erupts between Japan and China over Korea.
  • 1907 – The start of the first Scout camp on Brownsea Island, the origin of the worldwide Scouting movement.
  • 1911 – Harriet Quimby takes her pilot’s test and becomes the first U.S. woman to earn an Aero Club of America aviator’s certificate.
  • 1914 – The German Empire declares war on the Russian Empire at the opening of World War I. The Swiss Army mobilizes because of World War I.
  • 1927 – The Nanchang Uprising marks the first significant battle in the Chinese Civil War between the Kuomintang and Chinese Communist Party. This day is commemorated as the anniversary of the founding of the People’s Liberation Army.
  • 1933 – Anti-Fascist activists Bruno Tesch, Walter Möller, Karl Wolff, and August Lütgens are executed by the Nazi regime in Altona.
  • 1936 – The Olympics opened in Berlin with a ceremony presided over by Adolf Hitler.
  • 1937 – Josip Broz Tito reads the resolution “Manifesto of constitutional congress of KPH” to the constitutive congress of KPH (Croatian Communist Party) in woods near Samobor.
  • 1943 – World War II: Operation Tidal Wave also known as “Black Sunday”, was a failed American attempt to destroy Romanian oil fields.
  • 1944 – World War II: The Warsaw Uprising against the Nazi German occupation breaks out in Warsaw, Poland.
  • 1946 – Leaders of the Russian Liberation Army, a force of Russian prisoners of war that collaborated with Nazi Germany, are executed in Moscow, Soviet Union for treason.
  • 1950 – Guam is organized as a United States commonwealth as President Harry S. Truman signs the Guam Organic Act.
  • 1957 – The United States and Canada form the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD).
  • 1960 – Dahomey (later renamed Benin) declares independence from France.
  • 1960 – Islamabad is declared the federal capital of the Government of Pakistan.
  • 1961 – U.S. Defense Secretary Robert McNamara orders the creation of the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), the nation’s first centralized military espionage organization.
  • 1964 – The former Belgian Congo is renamed the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
  • 1965 – Frank Herbert’s novel, Dune was published for the first time. It was named as the world’s best-selling science fiction novel in 2003.
  • 1966 – Charles Whitman kills 16 people at the University of Texas at Austin before being killed by the police.
  • 1966 – Purges of intellectuals and imperialists becomes official China policy at the beginning of the Cultural Revolution.
  • 1968 – The coronation is held of Hassanal Bolkiah, the 29th Sultan of Brunei.
  • 1971 – The Concert for Bangladesh, organized by former Beatle George Harrison, is held at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
  • 1974 – Cyprus dispute: The United Nations Security Council authorizes the UNFICYP to create the “Green Line”, dividing Cyprus into two zones.
  • 1980 – Vigdís Finnbogadóttir is elected President of Iceland and becomes the world’s first democratically elected female head of state.
  • 1980 – A train crash kills 18 people in County Cork, Ireland.
  • 1981 – MTV begins broadcasting in the United States and airs its first video, “Video Killed the Radio Star” by The Buggles.
  • 1984 – Commercial peat-cutters discover the preserved bog body of a man, called Lindow Man, at Lindow Moss, Cheshire, England.
  • 1988 – A British soldier was killed in the Inglis Barracks bombing in London, England.
  • 1993 – The Great Mississippi and Missouri Rivers Flood of 1993 comes to a peak.
  • 1998 – The establishment of Muslim Medics, one of the largest student-led societies in Imperial College London that provides both academic and wellbeing support to medical students of all backgrounds.
  • 2004 – A supermarket fire kills 396 people and injures 500 others in Asunción, Paraguay.
  • 2007 – The I-35W Mississippi River bridge spanning the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, Minnesota, collapses during the evening rush hour, killing 13 people and injuring 145.
  • 2008 – The Beijing–Tianjin Intercity Railway begins operation as the fastest commuter rail system in the world.
  • 2008 – Eleven mountaineers from international expeditions died on K2, the second-highest mountain on Earth in the worst single accident in the history of K2 mountaineering.
  • 2017 – A suicide attack on a mosque in Herat, Afghanistan kills 20 people.

Births on August 1

  • 10 BC – Claudius, Roman emperor (d. 54)
  • 126 – Pertinax, Roman emperor (d. 193)
  • 845 – Sugawara no Michizane, Japanese scholar and politician (d. 903)
  • 992 – Hyeonjong, Korean king (d. 1031)
  • 1068 – Taizu, Chinese emperor (d. 1123)
  • 1313 – Kōgon, Japanese emperor (d. 1364)
  • 1377 – Go-Komatsu, Japanese emperor (d. 1433)
  • 1385 – John FitzAlan, 13th Earl of Arundel (d. 1421)
  • 1410 – Jan IV, count of Nassau-Dillenburg (d. 1475)
  • 1492 – Wolfgang, German prince (d. 1566)
  • 1520 – Sigismund II, Polish king (d. 1572)
  • 1545 – Andrew Melville, Scottish theologian and scholar (d. 1622)
  • 1555 – Edward Kelley, English spirit medium (d. 1597)
  • 1579 – Luis Vélez de Guevara, Spanish author and playwright (d. 1644)
  • 1626 – Sabbatai Zevi, Montenegrin rabbi and theorist (d. 1676)
  • 1630 – Thomas Clifford, 1st Baron Clifford of Chudleigh, English politician, Lord High Treasurer (d. 1673)
  • 1659 – Sebastiano Ricci, Italian painter (d. 1734)
  • 1713 – Charles I, German duke and prince (d. 1780)
  • 1714 – Richard Wilson, Welsh painter and academic (d. 1782)
  • 1738 – Jacques François Dugommier, French general (d. 1794)
  • 1744 – Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, French soldier, biologist, and academic (d. 1829)
  • 1770 – William Clark, American soldier, explorer, and politician, 4th Governor of Missouri Territory (d. 1838)
  • 1778 – Mary Jefferson Eppes, daughter of Thomas Jefferson who died in childbirth (d. 1804)
  • 1779 – Francis Scott Key, American lawyer, author, and poet (d. 1843)
  • 1779 – Lorenz Oken, German-Swiss botanist, biologist, and ornithologist (d. 1851)
  • 1809 – William B. Travis, American colonel and lawyer (d. 1836)
  • 1815 – Richard Henry Dana, Jr., American lawyer and politician (d. 1882)
  • 1818 – Maria Mitchell, American astronomer and academic (d. 1889)
  • 1819 – Herman Melville, American novelist, short story writer, and poet (d. 1891)
  • 1831 – Antonio Cotogni, Italian opera singer and educator (d. 1918)
  • 1843 – Robert Todd Lincoln, American lawyer and politician, 35th United States Secretary of War (d. 1926)
  • 1856 – George Coulthard, Australian footballer and cricketer (d. 1883)
  • 1858 – Gaston Doumergue, French lawyer and politician, 13th President of France (d. 1937)
  • 1858 – Hans Rott, Austrian organist and composer (d. 1884)
  • 1860 – Bazil Assan, Romanian engineer and explorer (d. 1918)
  • 1861 – Sammy Jones, Australian cricketer (d. 1951)
  • 1865 – Isobel Lilian Gloag, English painter (d. 1917)
  • 1871 – John Lester, American cricketer and soccer player (d. 1969)
  • 1877 – George Hackenschmidt, Estonian-English wrestler and strongman (d. 1968)
  • 1878 – Konstantinos Logothetopoulos, Greek physician and politician, Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1961)
  • 1881 – Otto Toeplitz, German mathematician and academic (d. 1940)
  • 1885 – George de Hevesy, Hungarian-German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1966)
  • 1889 – Walter Gerlach, German physicist and academic (d. 1979)
  • 1891 – Karl Kobelt, Swiss lawyer and politician, 52nd President of the Swiss Confederation (d. 1968)
  • 1893 – Alexander of Greece (d. 1920)
  • 1894 – Ottavio Bottecchia, Italian cyclist (d. 1927)
  • 1898 – Morris Stoloff, American composer and musical director (d. 1980)
  • 1899 – Raymond Mays, English race car driver and businessman (d. 1980)
  • 1900 – Otto Nothling, Australian cricketer and rugby player (d. 1965)
  • 1901 – Francisco Guilledo, Filipino boxer (d. 1925)
  • 1903 – Paul Horgan, American historian, author, and academic (d. 1995)
  • 1905 – Helen Sawyer Hogg, American-Canadian astronomer and academic (d. 1993)
  • 1907 – Eric Shipton, Sri Lankan-English mountaineer and explorer (d. 1977)
  • 1910 – James Henry Govier, English painter and illustrator (d. 1974)
  • 1910 – Walter Scharf, American pianist and composer (d. 2003)
  • 1910 – Gerda Taro, German war photographer (d. 1937)
  • 1911 – Jackie Ormes, American journalist and cartoonist (d. 1985)
  • 1912 – David Brand, Australian politician, 19th Premier of Western Australia (d. 1979)
  • 1912 – Gego, German-Venezuelan sculptor and academic (d. 1994)
  • 1912 – Henry Jones, American actor (d. 1999)
  • 1914 – Jack Delano, American photographer and composer (d. 1997)
  • 1914 – Alan Moore, Australian painter and educator (d. 2015)
  • 1914 – J. Lee Thompson, English-Canadian director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2002)
  • 1916 – Fiorenzo Angelini, Italian cardinal (d. 2014)
  • 1916 – Anne Hébert, Canadian author and poet (d. 2000)
  • 1918 – T. J. Jemison, American minister and activist (d. 2013)
  • 1919 – Stanley Middleton, English author (d. 2009)
  • 1920 – Raul Renter, Estonian economist and chess player (d. 1992)
  • 1921 – Jack Kramer, American tennis player, sailor, and sportscaster (d. 2009)
  • 1921 – Pat McDonald, Australian actress (d. 1990)
  • 1922 – Arthur Hill, Canadian-American actor (d. 2006)
  • 1923 – Val Bettin, American actor
  • 1924 – Abdullah of Saudi Arabia (d. 2015)
  • 1924 – Frank Havens, American canoeist (d. 2018)
  • 1924 – Marcia Mae Jones, American actress and singer (d. 2007)
  • 1924 – Frank Worrell, Barbadian cricketer (d. 1967)
  • 1925 – Ernst Jandl, Austrian poet and author (d. 2000)
  • 1926 – George Hauptfuhrer, American basketball player and lawyer (d. 2013)
  • 1926 – Hannah Hauxwell, English TV personality (d. 2018)
  • 1927 – María Teresa López Boegeholz, Chilean oceanographer (d. 2006)
  • 1927 – Anthony G. Bosco, American bishop (d. 2013)
  • 1928 – Jack Shea, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2013)
  • 1929 – Hafizullah Amin, Afghan educator and politician, Afghan Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 1979)
  • 1929 – Ann Calvello, American roller derby racer (d. 2006)
  • 1929 – Leila Abashidze, Georgian actress (d. 2018)
  • 1930 – Lionel Bart, English composer (d. 1999)
  • 1930 – Pierre Bourdieu, French sociologist, anthropologist, and philosopher (d. 2002)
  • 1930 – Julie Bovasso, American actress and writer (d. 1991)
  • 1930 – Lawrence Eagleburger, American lieutenant and politician, 62nd United States Secretary of State (d. 2011)
  • 1930 – Károly Grósz, Hungarian politician, 51st Prime Minister of Hungary (d. 1996)
  • 1930 – Geoffrey Holder, Trinidadian-American actor, singer, dancer, and choreographer (d. 2014)
  • 1931 – Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1931 – Trevor Goddard, South African cricketer (d. 2016)
  • 1932 – Meir Kahane, American-Israeli rabbi and activist, founded the Jewish Defense League (d. 1990)
  • 1932 – Meena Kumari, Indian actress (d. 1972)
  • 1933 – Dom DeLuise, American actor, singer, director, and producer (d. 2009)
  • 1933 – Masaichi Kaneda, Japanese baseball player and manager (d. 2019)
  • 1933 – Teri Shields, American actress, producer, and agent (d. 2012)
  • 1933 – Dušan Třeštík, Czech historian and author (d. 2007)
  • 1934 – John Beck, New Zealand cricketer (d. 2000)
  • 1934 – Derek Birdsall, English graphic designer
  • 1935 – Geoff Pullar, English cricketer (d. 2014)
  • 1936 – W. D. Hamilton, Egyptian born British biologist, psychologist, and academic (d. 2000)
  • 1936 – Yves Saint Laurent, Algerian-French fashion designer, co-founded Yves Saint Laurent (d. 2008)
  • 1936 – Laurie Taylor, English sociologist, radio host, and academic
  • 1937 – Al D’Amato, American lawyer and politician
  • 1939 – Bob Frankford, English-Canadian physician and politician (d. 2015)
  • 1939 – Terry Kiser, American actor
  • 1939 – Stephen Sykes, English bishop and theologian (d. 2014)
  • 1939 – Robert James Waller, American author and photographer (d. 2017)
  • 1940 – Mervyn Kitchen, English cricketer and umpire
  • 1940 – Henry Silverman, American businessman, founded Cendant
  • 1940 – Mahmoud Dowlatabadi, Iranian writer and actor
  • 1941 – Ron Brown, American captain and politician, 30th United States Secretary of Commerce (d. 1996)
  • 1941 – Étienne Roda-Gil, French songwriter and screenwriter (d. 2004)
  • 1942 – Jerry Garcia, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1995)
  • 1942 – Giancarlo Giannini, Italian actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1944 – Dmitry Nikolayevich Filippov, Russian banker and politician (d. 1998)
  • 1945 – Douglas Osheroff, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1946 – Boz Burrell, English singer-songwriter, bass player, and guitarist (d. 2006)
  • 1946 – Rick Coonce, American drummer (d. 2011)
  • 1946 – Richard O. Covey, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut
  • 1946 – Fiona Stanley, Australian epidemiologist and academic
  • 1947 – Lorna Goodison, Jamaican poet and author
  • 1947 – Chantal Montellier, French comics creator and artist
  • 1948 – Avi Arad, Israeli-American screenwriter and producer, founded Marvel Studios
  • 1948 – Cliff Branch, American football player
  • 1948 – David Gemmell, English journalist and author (d. 2006)
  • 1949 – Kurmanbek Bakiyev, Kyrgyzstani politician, 2nd President of Kyrgyzstan
  • 1949 – Jim Carroll, American poet, author, and musician (d. 2009)
  • 1949 – Ray Nettles, American football player (d. 2009)
  • 1950 – Roy Williams, American basketball player and coach
  • 1951 – Tim Bachman, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1951 – Tommy Bolin, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1976)
  • 1951 – Pete Mackanin, American baseball player, coach, and manager
  • 1952 – Zoran Đinđić, Serbian philosopher and politician, 6th Prime Minister of Serbia (d. 2003)
  • 1953 – Robert Cray, American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1953 – Howard Kurtz, American journalist and author
  • 1954 – Trevor Berbick, Jamaican-Canadian boxer (d. 2006)
  • 1954 – James Gleick, American journalist and author
  • 1954 – Benno Möhlmann, German footballer and manager
  • 1957 – Taylor Negron, American actor and screenwriter (d. 2015)
  • 1958 – Rob Buck, American guitarist and songwriter (d. 2000)
  • 1958 – Michael Penn, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1958 – Kiki Vandeweghe, American basketball player and coach
  • 1959 – Joe Elliott, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
  • 1960 – Chuck D, American rapper and songwriter
  • 1960 – Suzi Gardner, American rock singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1962 – Jacob Matlala, South African boxer (d. 2013)
  • 1963 – Demián Bichir, Mexican-American actor and producer
  • 1963 – Coolio, American rapper, producer, and actor
  • 1963 – John Carroll Lynch, American actor
  • 1963 – Koichi Wakata, Japanese astronaut and engineer
  • 1963 – Dean Wareham, New Zealand singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1964 – Adam Duritz, American singer-songwriter and producer
  • 1964 – Fiona Hyslop, Scottish businesswoman and politician
  • 1964 – Augusta Read Thomas, American composer, conductor and educator
  • 1965 – Brandt Jobe, American golfer
  • 1965 – Sam Mendes, English director and producer
  • 1966 – James St. James, American club promoter and author
  • 1967 – Gregg Jefferies, American baseball player and coach
  • 1967 – José Padilha, Brazilian director, producer and screenwriter
  • 1968 – Stacey Augmon, American basketball player and coach
  • 1968 – Dan Donegan, American heavy metal guitarist and songwriter
  • 1968 – Shigetoshi Hasegawa, Japanese baseball player and sportscaster
  • 1969 – Andrei Borissov, Estonian footballer and manager
  • 1969 – Kevin Jarvis, American baseball player and scout
  • 1969 – Graham Thorpe, English cricketer and journalist
  • 1970 – Quentin Coryatt, American football player
  • 1970 – David James, English footballer and manager
  • 1970 – Eugenie van Leeuwen, Dutch cricketer
  • 1972 – Nicke Andersson, Swedish singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1972 – Christer Basma, Norwegian footballer and coach
  • 1972 – Todd Bouman, American football player and coach
  • 1972 – Thomas Woods, American historian, economist, and academic
  • 1973 – Gregg Berhalter, American soccer player and coach
  • 1973 – Veerle Dejaeghere, Belgian runner
  • 1973 – Edurne Pasaban, Spanish mountaineer
  • 1974 – Cher Calvin, American journalist
  • 1974 – Marek Galiński, Polish cyclist (d. 2014)
  • 1974 – Tyron Henderson, South African cricketer
  • 1974 – Dennis Lawrence, Trinidadian footballer and coach
  • 1974 – Beckie Scott, Canadian skier
  • 1975 – Vhrsti, Czech author and illustrator
  • 1976 – Don Hertzfeldt, American animator, producer, screenwriter, and voice actor
  • 1976 – Søren Jochumsen, Danish footballer
  • 1976 – Nwankwo Kanu, Nigerian footballer
  • 1976 – David Nemirovsky, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1976 – Hasan Şaş, Turkish footballer and manager
  • 1976 – Cristian Stoica, Romanian-Italian rugby player
  • 1977 – Marc Denis, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
  • 1977 – Haspop, French-Moroccan dancer, choreographer, and actor
  • 1977 – Darnerien McCants, American-Canadian football player
  • 1977 – Damien Saez, French singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1977 – Yoshi Tatsu, Japanese wrestler and boxer
  • 1978 – Andy Blignaut, Zimbabwean cricketer
  • 1978 – Björn Ferry, Swedish biathlete
  • 1978 – Dhani Harrison, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1978 – Chris Iwelumo, Scottish footballer
  • 1978 – Edgerrin James, American football player
  • 1979 – Junior Agogo, Ghanaian footballer
  • 1979 – Nathan Fien, Australian-New Zealand rugby league player
  • 1979 – Jason Momoa, American actor, director, and producer
  • 1980 – Mancini, Brazilian footballer
  • 1980 – Romain Barras, French decathlete
  • 1980 – Esteban Paredes, Chilean footballer
  • 1981 – Dean Cox, Australian footballer
  • 1981 – Pia Haraldsen, Norwegian journalist and author
  • 1981 – Christofer Heimeroth, German footballer
  • 1981 – Stephen Hunt, Irish footballer
  • 1981 – Jamie Jones-Buchanan, English rugby player
  • 1982 – Basem Fathi, Jordanian footballer
  • 1982 – Montserrat Lombard, English actress, director, and screenwriter
  • 1983 – Bobby Carpenter, American football player
  • 1983 – Craig Clarke, New Zealand rugby player
  • 1983 – Julien Faubert, French footballer
  • 1983 – David Gervasi, Swiss decathlete
  • 1984 – Steve Feak, American game designer
  • 1984 – Francesco Gavazzi, Italian cyclist
  • 1984 – Brandon Kintzler, American baseball player
  • 1984 – Bastian Schweinsteiger, German footballer
  • 1985 – Stuart Holden, Scottish-American soccer player
  • 1985 – Adam Jones, American baseball player
  • 1985 – Cole Kimball, American baseball player
  • 1985 – Tendai Mtawarira, South African rugby player
  • 1985 – Kris Stadsgaard, Danish footballer
  • 1985 – Dušan Švento, Slovak footballer
  • 1986 – Damien Allen, English footballer
  • 1986 – Anton Strålman, Swedish ice hockey player
  • 1986 – Andrew Taylor, English footballer
  • 1986 – Elena Vesnina, Russian tennis player
  • 1986 – Mike Wallace, American football player
  • 1987 – Iago Aspas, Spanish footballer
  • 1987 – Karen Carney, English women’s football winger
  • 1987 – Sébastien Pocognoli, Belgian footballer
  • 1987 – Lee Wallace, Scottish footballer
  • 1988 – Mustafa Abdellaoue, Norwegian footballer
  • 1988 – Patryk Małecki, Polish footballer
  • 1988 – Bodene Thompson, New Zealand rugby league player
  • 1989 – Madison Bumgarner, American baseball player
  • 1989 – Tiffany Hwang, Korean American singer, songwriter, and actress
  • 1990 – Aledmys Díaz, Cuban baseball player
  • 1990 – Jean Hugues Gregoire, Mauritian swimmer
  • 1990 – Elton Jantjies, South African rugby player
  • 1991 – Piotr Malarczyk, Polish footballer
  • 1991 – Marco Puntoriere, Italian footballer
  • 1992 – Austin Rivers, American basketball player
  • 1992 – Mrunal Thakur, Indian actress
  • 1993 – Álex Abrines, Spanish basketball player
  • 1993 – Leon Thomas III, American actor and singer
  • 1994 – Sergeal Petersen, South African rugby player
  • 1994 – Ayaka Wada, Japanese singer
  • 1996 – Katie Boulter, English tennis player
  • 2001 – Park Si-eun, South Korean actress

Deaths on August 1

  • 30 BC – Mark Antony, Roman general and politician (b. 83 BC)
  • 371 – Eusebius of Vercelli, Italian bishop and saint (b. 283)
  • 527 – Justin I, Byzantine emperor (b. 450)
  • 873 – Thachulf, duke of Thuringia
  • 946 – Ali ibn Isa al-Jarrah, Abbasid vizier (b. 859)
  • 946 – Lady Xu Xinyue, Chinese queen (b. 902)
  • 953 – Yingtian, Chinese Khitan empress (b. 879)
  • 984 – Æthelwold, bishop of Winchester
  • 1098 – Adhemar of Le Puy, French papal legate
  • 1137 – Louis VI, king of France (b. 1081)
  • 1146 – Vsevolod II of Kiev, Russian prince
  • 1227 – Shimazu Tadahisa, Japanese warlord (b. 1179)
  • 1252 – Giovanni da Pian del Carpine, Italian archbishop and explorer (b. 1180)
  • 1299 – Conrad de Lichtenberg, Bishop of Strasbourg (b. 1240)
  • 1402 – Edmund of Langley, 1st Duke of York, English politician, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports (b. 1341)
  • 1457 – Lorenzo Valla, Italian author and educator (b. 1406)
  • 1464 – Cosimo de’ Medici, Italian ruler (b. 1386)
  • 1494 – Giovanni Santi, artist and father of Raphael (b. c. 1435)
  • 1541 – Simon Grynaeus, German theologian and scholar (b. 1493)
  • 1543 – Magnus I, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg (b. 1488)
  • 1546 – Peter Faber, French Jesuit theologian (b. 1506)
  • 1557 – Olaus Magnus, Swedish archbishop, historian, and cartographer (b. 1490)
  • 1580 – Albrecht Giese, Polish-German politician and diplomat (b. 1524)
  • 1589 – Jacques Clément, French assassin of Henry III of France (b. 1567)
  • 1603 – Matthew Browne, English politician (b. 1563)
  • 1714 – Anne, Queen of Great Britain (b. 1665)
  • 1787 – Alphonsus Maria de’ Liguori, Italian bishop and saint (b. 1696)
  • 1795 – Clas Bjerkander, Swedish meteorologist, botanist, and entomologist (b. 1735)
  • 1796 – Sir Robert Pigot, 2nd Baronet, English colonel and politician (b. 1720)
  • 1798 – François-Paul Brueys d’Aigalliers, French admiral (b. 1753)
  • 1807 – John Boorman, English cricketer (b. c. 1754)
  • 1807 – John Walker, English actor, philologist, and lexicographer (b. 1732)
  • 1808 – Lady Diana Beauclerk, English painter and illustrator (b. 1734)
  • 1812 – Yakov Kulnev, Russian general (b. 1763)
  • 1851 – William Joseph Behr, German publicist and academic (b. 1775)
  • 1863 – Jind Kaur Majarani (Regent) of the Sikh Empire (b. 1817)
  • 1866 – John Ross, American tribal chief (b. 1790)
  • 1869 – Peter Julian Eymard, French Priest and Founder Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament (b. 1811)
  • 1869 – Richard Dry, Australian politician, 7th Premier of Tasmania (b. 1815)
  • 1903 – Calamity Jane, American frontierswoman and scout (b. 1853)
  • 1911 – Edwin Austin Abbey, American painter and illustrator (b. 1852)
  • 1911 – Samuel Arza Davenport, American lawyer and politician (b. 1843)
  • 1918 – John Riley Banister, American cowboy and police officer (b. 1854)
  • 1920 – Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Indian lawyer and journalist (b. 1856)
  • 1921 – T.J. Ryan, Australian politician, 19th Premier of Queensland (b. 1876)
  • 1922 – Donát Bánki, Hungarian engineer (b. 1856)
  • 1929 – Syd Gregory, Australian cricketer (b. 1870)
  • 1938 – Edmund C. Tarbell, American painter and academic (b. 1862)
  • 1943 – Lydia Litvyak, Russian lieutenant and pilot (b. 1921)
  • 1944 – Manuel L. Quezon, Filipino soldier, lawyer, and politician, 2nd President of the Philippines (b. 1878)
  • 1959 – Jean Behra, French race car driver (b. 1921)
  • 1963 – Theodore Roethke, American poet (b. 1908)
  • 1966 – Charles Whitman, American murderer (b. 1941)
  • 1967 – Richard Kuhn, Austrian-German biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize Laureate (b. 1900)
  • 1970 – Frances Farmer, American actress (b. 1913)
  • 1970 – Doris Fleeson, American journalist (b. 1901)
  • 1970 – Otto Heinrich Warburg, German physician and physiologist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1883)
  • 1973 – Gian Francesco Malipiero, Italian composer and educator (b. 1882)
  • 1973 – Walter Ulbricht, German soldier and politician (b. 1893)
  • 1974 – Ildebrando Antoniutti, Italian cardinal (b. 1898)
  • 1977 – Francis Gary Powers, American captain and pilot (b. 1929)
  • 1980 – Patrick Depailler, French race car driver (b. 1944)
  • 1980 – Strother Martin, American actor (b. 1919)
  • 1981 – Paddy Chayefsky, American author, playwright, and screenwriter (b. 1923)
  • 1982 – T. Thirunavukarasu, Sri Lankan lawyer and politician (b. 1933)
  • 1989 – John Ogdon, English pianist and composer (b. 1937)
  • 1990 – Norbert Elias, German-Dutch sociologist, author, and academic (b. 1897)
  • 1996 – Tadeusz Reichstein, Polish-Swiss chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1897)
  • 1996 – Lucille Teasdale-Corti, Canadian physician and surgeon (b. 1929)
  • 1998 – Eva Bartok, Hungarian-British actress (b. 1927)
  • 2001 – Korey Stringer, American football player (b. 1974)
  • 2003 – Guy Thys, Belgian footballer, coach, and manager (b. 1922)
  • 2003 – Marie Trintignant, French actress and screenwriter (b. 1962)
  • 2004 – Philip Abelson, American physicist and author (b. 1913)
  • 2005 – Al Aronowitz, American journalist (b. 1928)
  • 2005 – Wim Boost, Dutch cartoonist and educator (b. 1918)
  • 2005 – Constant Nieuwenhuys, Dutch painter and sculptor (b. 1920)
  • 2005 – Fahd of Saudi Arabia (b. 1923)
  • 2006 – Bob Thaves, American illustrator (b. 1924)
  • 2006 – Iris Marion Young, American political scientist and activist (b. 1949)
  • 2007 – Tommy Makem, Irish singer-songwriter and banjo player (b. 1932)
  • 2008 – Gertan Klauber, Czech-English actor (b. 1932)
  • 2008 – Harkishan Singh Surjeet, Indian lawyer and politician (b. 1916)
  • 2009 – Corazon Aquino, Filipino politician, 11th President of the Philippines (b. 1933)
  • 2010 – Lolita Lebrón, Puerto Rican-American activist (b. 1919)
  • 2010 – Eric Tindill, New Zealand rugby player and cricketer (b. 1910)
  • 2012 – Aldo Maldera, Italian footballer and agent (b. 1953)
  • 2012 – Douglas Townsend, American composer and musicologist (b. 1921)
  • 2012 – Barry Trapnell, English cricketer and academic (b. 1924)
  • 2013 – John Amis, English journalist and critic (b. 1922)
  • 2013 – Gail Kobe, American actress and producer (b. 1932)
  • 2013 – Babe Martin, American baseball player (b. 1920)
  • 2013 – Toby Saks, American cellist and educator (b. 1942)
  • 2013 – Wilford White, American football player (b. 1928)
  • 2014 – Valyantsin Byalkevich, Belarusian footballer and manager (b. 1973)
  • 2014 – Jan Roar Leikvoll, Norwegian author (b. 1974)
  • 2014 – Charles T. Payne, American soldier (b. 1925)
  • 2014 – Mike Smith, English radio and television host (b. 1955)
  • 2015 – Stephan Beckenbauer, German footballer and manager (b. 1968)
  • 2015 – Cilla Black, English singer and actress (b. 1943)
  • 2015 – Bernard d’Espagnat, French physicist, philosopher, and author (b. 1921)
  • 2015 – Bob Frankford, English-Canadian physician and politician (b. 1939)
  • 2015 – Hong Yuanshuo, Chinese footballer and manager (b. 1948)
  • 2016 – Queen Anne of Romania (b. 1923)

Holidays and observances on August 1

  • Armed Forces Day (Lebanon)
  • Armed Forces Day (China) or Anniversary of the Founding of the People’s Liberation Army (People’s Republic of China)
  • Azerbaijani Language and Alphabet Day (Azerbaijan)
  • Celebration of the Slavery Abolition Act 1833 which ended the slavery in the British Empire, generally celebrated as a part of Carnival, as the Caribbean Carnival takes place at this time (British West Indies):
    • Earliest day on which Caribana celebration can fall, celebrated on the first Weekend of August. (Toronto)
    • Earliest day on which Emancipation Day can fall, celebrated on the first Monday of August. (Anguilla, the Bahamas, British Virgin Islands)
    • Emancipation Day (Barbados, Bermuda, Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago)
  • Christian feast day:
    • Abgar V of Edessa (Syrian Church)
    • Alphonsus Maria de’ Liguori
    • Æthelwold of Winchester
    • Bernard Võ Văn Duệ (one of Vietnamese Martyrs)
    • Blessed Gerhard Hirschfelder
    • Eusebius of Vercelli
    • Exuperius of Bayeux
    • Felix of Girona
    • Peter Apostle in Chains
    • Procession of the Cross and the beginning of Dormition Fast (Eastern Orthodoxy)
    • The Holy Maccabees
    • August 1 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Earliest day on which August Bank Holiday (Ireland) can fall, while August 7 is the latest; celebrated on the first Monday of August.
  • Earliest day on which Civic Holiday can fall, while August 7 is the latest; celebrated on the first Monday of August. (Canada)
  • Earliest day on which Commerce Day, or Frídagur verslunarmanna, can fall, while August 7 is the latest; celebrated on the first Monday of August. (Iceland)
  • Earliest day on which Constitution Day (Cook Islands) can fall, while August 7 is the latest; celebrated on the first Monday of August.
  • Earliest day on which Farmers’ Day can fall, while August 7 is the latest; celebrated on the first Monday of August. (Zambia)
  • Earliest day on which International Beer Day can fall, while August 7 is the latest; celebrated on the first Friday of August.
  • Earliest day on which Friendship Day can fall, while August 7 is the latest; celebrated on the first Sunday of August. (United States)
  • Earliest day on which Kadooment Day can fall, while August 7 is the latest; celebrated on the first Monday of August (Barbados)
  • Earliest day on which Labor Day (Samoa) can fall, while August 7 is the latest; celebrated on the first Monday of August (Samoa)
  • Minden Day (United Kingdom)
  • National Day, celebrates the independence of Benin from France in 1960.
  • National Day, commemorates Switzerland becoming a single unit in 1291.
  • Official Birthday and Coronation Day of the King of Tonga (Tonga)
  • Parents’ Day (Democratic Republic of the Congo)
  • Statehood Day (Colorado)
  • Swiss National Day (Switzerland)
  • The beginning of autumn observances in the Northern hemisphere and spring observances in the Southern hemisphere (Neopagan Wheel of the Year):
    • Lughnasadh in the Northern hemisphere, Imbolc in the Southern hemisphere; traditionally begins on the eve of August 1. (Gaels, Ireland, Scotland, Neopagans)
    • Lammas (England, Scotland, Neopagans)
    • Pachamama Raymi (Quechuan in Ecuador and Peru)
  • The first day of Carnaval del Pueblo (Burgess Park, London, England)
  • Victory Day (Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam)
  • World Scout Scarf Day
  • Yorkshire Day (Yorkshire, England)

August 1 – History, Events, Births, Deaths Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

July 30 – History, Events, Births, Deaths Holidays and Observances On This Day

  • 762 – Baghdad is founded.
  • 1419 – First Defenestration of Prague: A crowd of radical Hussites kill seven members of the Prague city council.
  • 1502 – Christopher Columbus lands at Guanaja in the Bay Islands off the coast of Honduras during his fourth voyage.
  • 1609 – Beaver Wars: At Ticonderoga (now Crown Point, New York), Samuel de Champlain shoots and kills two Iroquois chiefs on behalf of his native allies.
  • 1619 – In Jamestown, Virginia, the first Colonial European representative assembly in the Americas, the House of Burgesses, convenes for the first time.
  • 1626 – An earthquake in Naples, Italy, kills about 10,000 people.
  • 1635 – Eighty Years’ War: The Siege of Schenkenschans begins; Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange, begins the recapture of the strategically important fortress from the Spanish Army.
  • 1656 – Swedish forces under the command of King Charles X Gustav defeat the forces of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth at the Battle of Warsaw.
  • 1676 – Nathaniel Bacon issues the “Declaration of the People of Virginia”, beginning Bacon’s Rebellion against the rule of Governor William Berkeley.
  • 1729 – Founding of Baltimore, Maryland.
  • 1733 – The first Masonic Grand Lodge in the future United States is constituted in Massachusetts.
  • 1756 – In Saint Petersburg, Bartolomeo Rastrelli presents the newly built Catherine Palace to Empress Elizabeth and her courtiers.
  • 1811 – Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, leader of the Mexican insurgency, is executed by the Spanish in Chihuahua City, Mexico.
  • 1825 – Malden Island is discovered by captain George Byron, 7th Baron Byron.
  • 1859 – First ascent of Grand Combin, one of the highest summits in the Alps.
  • 1863 – American Indian Wars: Representatives of the United States and tribal leaders including Chief Pocatello (of the Shoshone) sign the Treaty of Box Elder.
  • 1864 – American Civil War: Battle of the Crater: Union forces attempt to break Confederate lines at Petersburg, Virginia by exploding a large bomb under their trenches.
  • 1865 – The steamboat Brother Jonathan sinks off the coast of Crescent City, California, killing 225 passengers, the deadliest shipwreck on the Pacific Coast of the U.S. at the time.
  • 1866 – Armed Confederate veterans in New Orleans riot against a meeting of Radical Republicans, killing 48 people and injuring another 100.
  • 1871 – The Staten Island Ferry Westfield’s boiler explodes, killing over 85 people.
  • 1912 – Japan’s Emperor Meiji dies and is succeeded by his son Yoshihito, who is now known as the Emperor Taishō.
  • 1930 – In Montevideo, Uruguay wins the first FIFA World Cup.
  • 1932 – Premiere of Walt Disney’s Flowers and Trees, the first cartoon short to use Technicolor and the first Academy Award winning cartoon short.
  • 1945 – World War II: Japanese submarine I-58 sinks the USS Indianapolis, killing 883 seamen. Most die during the following four days, until an aircraft notices the survivors.
  • 1956 – A joint resolution of the U.S. Congress is signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, authorizing In God We Trust as the U.S. national motto.
  • 1962 – The Trans-Canada Highway, the longest national highway in the world, is officially opened.
  • 1965 – U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Social Security Act of 1965 into law, establishing Medicare and Medicaid.
  • 1966 – England defeats West Germany to win the 1966 FIFA World Cup at Wembley Stadium after extra time.
  • 1969 – Vietnam War: US President Richard Nixon makes an unscheduled visit to South Vietnam and meets with President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu and U.S. military commanders.
  • 1971 – Apollo program: Apollo 15 Mission: David Scott and James Irwin on the Apollo Lunar Module Falcon land on the Moon with the first Lunar Rover.
  • 1971 – An All Nippon Airways Boeing 727 and a Japanese Air Force F-86 collide over Morioka, Iwate, Japan killing 162.
  • 1974 – Watergate scandal: U.S. President Richard Nixon releases subpoenaed White House recordings after being ordered to do so by the Supreme Court of the United States.
  • 1975 – Jimmy Hoffa disappears from the parking lot of the Machus Red Fox restaurant in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit, at about 2:30 p.m. He is never seen or heard from again.
  • 1978 – The 730 (transport), Okinawa Prefecture changes its traffic on the right-hand side of the road to the left-hand side.
  • 1980 – Vanuatu gains independence.
  • 1980 – Israel’s Knesset passes the Jerusalem Law.
  • 1981 – As many as 50,000 demonstrators, mostly women and children, took to the streets in Łódź to protest food ration shortages in Communist Poland.
  • 1990 – Ian Gow, Conservative Member of Parliament, is assassinated at his home by IRA terrorists in a car bombing after he assured the group that the British government would never surrender to them.
  • 2003 – In Mexico, the last ‘old style’ Volkswagen Beetle rolls off the assembly line.
  • 2006 – The world’s longest running music show Top of the Pops is broadcast for the last time on BBC Two. The show had aired for 42 years.
  • 2011 – Marriage of Queen Elizabeth II’s eldest granddaughter Zara Phillips to former rugby union footballer Mike Tindall.
  • 2012 – A train fire kills 32 passengers and injures 27 on the Tamil Nadu Express in Andhra Pradesh, India.
  • 2012 – A power grid failure in Delhi leaves more than 300 million people without power in northern India.
  • 2014 – One hundred and fifty people are trapped after a landslide in Maharashtra, India; 20 are killed.

Births on July 30

  • 1470 – Hongzhi, emperor of the Ming dynasty (d. 1505)
  • 1511 – Giorgio Vasari, Italian painter, historian, and architect (d. 1574)
  • 1549 – Ferdinando I de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (d. 1609)
  • 1641 – Regnier de Graaf, Dutch physician and anatomist (d. 1673)
  • 1751 – Maria Anna Mozart, Austrian pianist (d. 1829)
  • 1763 – Samuel Rogers, English poet and art collector (d. 1855)
  • 1809 – Charles Chiniquy, Canadian-American priest and theologian (d. 1899)
  • 1818 – Emily Brontë, English novelist and poet (d. 1848)
  • 1818 – Jan Heemskerk, Dutch lawyer and politician, 16th and 19th Prime Minister of the Netherlands (d. 1897)
  • 1825 – Chaim Aronson, Lithuanian engineer and author (d. 1893)
  • 1832 – George Lemuel Woods, American lawyer, judge, and politician, 3rd Governor of Oregon (d. 1890)
  • 1855 – Georg Wilhelm von Siemens, German-Swiss businessman (d. 1919)
  • 1857 – Thorstein Veblen, American economist and sociologist (d. 1929)
  • 1859 – Henry Simpson Lunn, English minister and humanitarian, founded Lunn Poly (d. 1939)
  • 1862 – Nikolai Yudenich, Russian general (d. 1933)
  • 1863 – Henry Ford, American engineer and businessman, founded the Ford Motor Company (d. 1947)
  • 1872 – Princess Clémentine of Belgium (d. 1955)
  • 1881 – Smedley Butler, American general, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1940)
  • 1890 – Casey Stengel, American baseball player and manager (d. 1975)
  • 1893 – Fatima Jinnah, Pakistani dentist and politician (d. 1967)
  • 1898 – Henry Moore, English sculptor and illustrator (d. 1986)
  • 1899 – Gerald Moore, English pianist (d. 1987)
  • 1901 – Alfred Lépine, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 1955)
  • 1904 – Salvador Novo, Mexican poet and playwright (d. 1974)
  • 1909 – C. Northcote Parkinson, English historian and author (d. 1993)
  • 1910 – Edgar de Evia, Mexican-American photographer (d. 2003)
  • 1913 – Lou Darvas, American soldier and cartoonist (d. 1987)
  • 1914 – Michael Morris, 3rd Baron Killanin, Irish journalist and author, 6th President of the International Olympic Committee (d. 1999)
  • 1920 – Walter Schuck, German lieutenant and pilot (d. 2015)
  • 1921 – Grant Johannesen, American pianist and educator (d. 2005)
  • 1922 – Henry W. Bloch, American banker and businessman, co-founded H&R Block (d. 2019)
  • 1925 – Stan Stennett, Welsh actor and trumpet player (d. 2013)
  • 1925 – Alexander Trocchi, Scottish author and poet (d. 1984)
  • 1926 – Betye Saar, African American artist
  • 1927 – Richard Johnson, English actor, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2015)
  • 1927 – Pete Schoening, American mountaineer (d. 2004)
  • 1927 – Victor Wong, American actor (d. 2001)
  • 1928 – Joe Nuxhall, American baseball player and sportscaster (d. 2007)
  • 1929 – Sid Krofft, Canadian-American puppeteer and producer
  • 1931 – Dominique Lapierre, French historian and author
  • 1934 – Bud Selig, 9th Major League Baseball Commissioner
  • 1936 – Buddy Guy, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1936 – Infanta Pilar, Duchess of Badajoz (d. 2020)
  • 1938 – Hervé de Charette, French politician, French Minister of Foreign Affairs
  • 1938 – Terry O’Neill, English photographer (d. 2019)
  • 1939 – Peter Bogdanovich, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1939 – Eleanor Smeal, American activist, founded the Feminist Majority Foundation
  • 1940 – Patricia Schroeder, American lawyer and politician
  • 1940 – Clive Sinclair, English businessman, founded Sinclair Radionics and Sinclair Research
  • 1941 – Paul Anka, Canadian singer-songwriter and actor
  • 1942 – Pollyanna Pickering, English environmentalist and painter (d. 2018)
  • 1943 – Henri-François Gautrin, Canadian physicist and politician
  • 1944 – Gerry Birrell, Scottish race car driver (d. 1973)
  • 1944 – Peter Bottomley, English politician
  • 1944 – Frances de la Tour, English actress
  • 1945 – Patrick Modiano, French novelist and screenwriter, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1945 – David Sanborn, American saxophonist and composer
  • 1946 – Neil Bonnett, American race car driver and sportscaster (d. 1994)
  • 1946 – Jeffrey Hammond, English bass player
  • 1947 – William Atherton, American actor and producer
  • 1947 – Françoise Barré-Sinoussi, French virologist and biologist, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1947 – Jonathan Mann, American physician and author (d. 1998)
  • 1947 – Arnold Schwarzenegger, Austrian-American bodybuilder, actor, and politician, 38th Governor of California
  • 1948 – Billy Paultz, American basketball player
  • 1948 – Jean Reno, Moroccan-French actor
  • 1948 – Otis Taylor, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1948 – Julia Tsenova, Bulgarian pianist and composer (d. 2010)
  • 1949 – Duck Baker, American guitarist
  • 1949 – Sonia Proudman, English lawyer and judge
  • 1950 – Harriet Harman, English lawyer and politician
  • 1950 – Frank Stallone, American singer-songwriter and actor
  • 1951 – Alan Kourie, South African cricketer
  • 1951 – Gerry Judah, Indian-English painter and sculptor
  • 1952 – Stephen Blackmore, English botanist and author
  • 1954 – Ken Olin, American actor, director, and producer
  • 1955 – Rat Scabies, English drummer and producer
  • 1955 – Christopher Warren-Green, English violinist and conductor
  • 1956 – Delta Burke, American actress
  • 1956 – Réal Cloutier, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1956 – Anita Hill, American lawyer and academic
  • 1956 – Soraida Martinez, American painter and educator
  • 1957 – Antonio Adamo, Italian director and cinematographer
  • 1957 – Bill Cartwright, American basketball player and coach
  • 1957 – Clint Hurdle, American baseball player and manager
  • 1957 – Nery Pumpido, Argentinian footballer, coach, and manager
  • 1958 – Kate Bush, English singer-songwriter and producer
  • 1958 – Liz Kershaw, English radio broadcaster
  • 1958 – Daley Thompson, English decathlete and trainer
  • 1960 – Jennifer Barnes, American-English musicologist and academic
  • 1960 – Richard Linklater, American director and screenwriter
  • 1960 – Brillante Mendoza, Filipino independent film director
  • 1961 – Laurence Fishburne, American actor and producer
  • 1962 – Alton Brown, American chef, author, and producer
  • 1962 – Jay Feaster, American ice hockey player and manager
  • 1962 – Yakub Memon, Indian accountant and terrorist (d. 2015)
  • 1963 – Peter Bowler, English-Australian cricketer
  • 1963 – Lisa Kudrow, American actress and producer
  • 1963 – Antoni Martí, Andorran architect and politician
  • 1963 – Chris Mullin, American basketball player, coach, and executive
  • 1964 – Ron Block, American singer-songwriter and banjo player
  • 1964 – Vivica A. Fox, American actress
  • 1964 – Alek Keshishian, Lebanese-American director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1964 – Jürgen Klinsmann, German footballer and manager
  • 1964 – Laine Randjärv, Estonian lawyer and politician, 6th Estonian Minister of Culture
  • 1965 – Tim Munton, English cricketer
  • 1966 – Kerry Fox, New Zealand actress and screenwriter
  • 1966 – Craig Gannon, English guitarist and songwriter
  • 1966 – Allan Langer, Australian rugby league player and coach
  • 1966 – Louise Wener, English author and singer-songwriter
  • 1968 – Terry Crews, American football player and actor
  • 1968 – Robert Korzeniowski, Polish race walker and coach
  • 1968 – Sean Moore, Welsh drummer and songwriter
  • 1969 – Simon Baker, Australian actor, director, and producer
  • 1969 – Errol Stewart, South African cricketer and lawyer
  • 1970 – Alun Cairns, Welsh businessman and politician
  • 1970 – Dean Edwards, American comedian, actor, and singer
  • 1970 – Christopher Nolan, English-American director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1971 – Elvis Crespo, American-Puerto Rican singer
  • 1971 – Tom Green, Canadian comedian and actor
  • 1972 – Jim McIlvaine, American basketball player and sportscaster
  • 1973 – Kenton Cool, English mountaineer
  • 1973 – Ümit Davala, Turkish footballer and manager
  • 1973 – Anastasios Katsabis, Greek footballer
  • 1973 – Markus Näslund, Swedish ice hockey player and manager
  • 1973 – Sonu Nigam, Indian playback singer and actor
  • 1973 – Clementa C. Pinckney, American minister and politician (d. 2015)
  • 1974 – Radostin Kishishev, Bulgarian footballer and manager
  • 1974 – Jason Robinson, English rugby league footballer, and rugby union footballer and coach
  • 1974 – Hilary Swank, American actress and producer
  • 1975 – Graham Nicholls, English author and activist
  • 1975 – Kate Starbird, American basketball player and computer scientist
  • 1977 – Diana Bolocco, Chilean model and journalist;
  • 1977 – Misty May-Treanor, American volleyball player and coach
  • 1977 – Jaime Pressly, American actress
  • 1977 – Bootsy Thornton, American basketball player
  • 1977 – Ian Watkins, Welsh singer-songwriter and child abuse convict
  • 1979 – Carlos Arroyo, Puerto Rican basketball player and singer
  • 1979 – Chad Keegan, South African cricketer and coach
  • 1979 – Graeme McDowell, Northern Irish golfer
  • 1979 – Maya Nasser, Syrian journalist (d. 2012)
  • 1980 – Seth Avett, American folk-rock singer-songwriter and musician
  • 1980 – Justin Rose, South African-English golfer
  • 1981 – Nicky Hayden, American motorcycle racer (d. 2017)
  • 1981 – Juan Smith, South African rugby union footballer
  • 1981 – Hope Solo, American soccer player
  • 1981 – Indrek Turi, Estonian decathlete
  • 1982 – Jehad Al-Hussain, Syrian footballer
  • 1982 – James Anderson, English cricketer
  • 1982 – Yvonne Strahovski, Australian actress
  • 1983 – Seán Dillon, Irish footballer
  • 1984 – Marko Asmer, Estonian race car driver
  • 1984 – Gabrielle Christian, American actress and singer
  • 1984 – Trudy McIntosh, Australian artistic gymnast
  • 1984 – Kevin Pittsnogle, American basketball player
  • 1985 – Chris Guccione, Australian tennis player
  • 1985 – Daniel Fredheim Holm, Norwegian footballer
  • 1985 – Luca Lanotte, Italian ice dancer
  • 1985 – Matthew Scott, Australian rugby league player
  • 1986 – Tiago Alencar, Brazilian footballer
  • 1986 – William Zillman, Australian rugby league player
  • 1987 – Anton Fink, German footballer
  • 1987 – Sam Saunders, American golfer
  • 1988 – Wen Chean Lim, Malaysian rhythmic gymnast
  • 1989 – Aleix Espargaró, Spanish motorcycle racer
  • 1989 – Wayne Parnell, South African cricketer
  • 1990 – Chris Maxwell, Welsh footballer
  • 1991 – Diana Vickers, English singer-songwriter
  • 1992 – Hannah Cockroft, English wheelchair racer
  • 1993 – Jacob Faria, American baseball player
  • 1993 – André Gomes, Portuguese footballer
  • 1993 – Margarida Moura, Portuguese tennis player
  • 1994 – Nelydia Senrose, Malaysian actress
  • 1996 – Nina Stojanović, Serbian tennis player

Deaths on July 30

  • 578 – Jacob Baradaeus, Greek bishop
  • 579 – Pope Benedict I
  • 734 – Tatwine, English archbishop (b. 670)
  • 829 – Shi Xiancheng, general of the Tang Dynasty
  • 1286 – Bar Hebraeus, Syrian scholar and historian (b. 1226)
  • 1393 – Alberto d’Este, Lord of Ferrara and Modena (b. 1347)
  • 1516 – Johann V of Nassau-Vianden-Dietz (b. 1455)
  • 1540 – Thomas Abel, English priest and martyr (b. 1497)
  • 1540 – Robert Barnes, English martyr and reformer (b. 1495)
  • 1550 – Thomas Wriothesley, 1st Earl of Southampton, English politician, Lord Chancellor of the United Kingdom (b. 1505)
  • 1566 – Guillaume Rondelet, French doctor (b. 1507)
  • 1608 – Rory O’Donnell, 1st Earl of Tyrconnell, last King of Tyrconnell (b. 1575)
  • 1624 – Esmé Stewart, 3rd Duke of Lennox, British nobleman (b. 1579)
  • 1652 – Charles Amadeus, Duke of Nemours (b. 1624)
  • 1680 – Thomas Butler, 6th Earl of Ossory, Irish admiral and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (b. 1634)
  • 1683 – Maria Theresa of Spain (b. 1638)
  • 1691 – Daniel Georg Morhof, German scholar and academic (b. 1639)
  • 1700 – Prince William, Duke of Gloucester, English royal (b. 1689)
  • 1718 – William Penn, English businessman and philosopher, founded the Province of Pennsylvania (b. 1644)
  • 1771 – Thomas Gray, English poet (b. 1716)
  • 1811 – Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, Mexican priest and soldier (b. 1753)
  • 1832 – Lê Văn Duyệt, Vietnamese general, mandarin (b. 1763-4)
  • 1870 – Aasmund Olavsson Vinje, Norwegian poet and journalist (b. 1818)
  • 1875 – George Pickett, American general (b. 1825)
  • 1889 – Charlie Absolom, England cricketer (b. 1846)
  • 1898 – Otto von Bismarck, German lawyer and politician, 1st Chancellor of Germany (b. 1815)
  • 1900 – Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (b. 1844)
  • 1912 – Emperor Meiji of Japan (b. 1852)
  • 1918 – Joyce Kilmer, American soldier, journalist, and poet (b. 1886)
  • 1920 – Albert Gustaf Dahlman, Swedish executioner (b. 1848)
  • 1930 – Joan Gamper, Swiss-Spanish footballer and businessman, founded FC Barcelona (b. 1877)
  • 1938 – John Derbyshire, English swimmer and water polo player (b. 1878)
  • 1941 – Hugo Celmiņš, Latvian politician, former Prime Minister of Latvia (b. 1877)
  • 1947 – Joseph Cook, English-Australian miner and politician, 6th Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1860)
  • 1965 – Jun’ichirō Tanizaki, Japanese author and playwright (b. 1886)
  • 1970 – Walter Murdoch, Scottish-Australian academic (b. 1874)
  • 1970 – George Szell, Hungarian-American conductor and composer (b. 1897)
  • 1971 – Thomas Hollway, Australian politician, 36th Premier of Victoria (b. 1906)
  • 1975 – James Blish, American author and critic (b. 1921)
  • 1977 – Emory Holloway, American scholar, author, and educator (b. 1885)
  • 1983 – Howard Dietz, American songwriter and publicist (b. 1896)
  • 1983 – Lynn Fontanne, English actress (b. 1887)
  • 1985 – Julia Robinson, American mathematician and theorist (b. 1919)
  • 1989 – Lane Frost, American professional bull rider
  • 1990 – Ian Gow, British Member of Parliament who was assassinated by the IRA (b. 1937)
  • 1992 – Brenda Marshall, Filipino-American actress and singer (b. 1915)
  • 1992 – Joe Shuster, Canadian-American illustrator, co-created Superman (b. 1914)
  • 1996 – Claudette Colbert, French-American actress (b. 1903)
  • 1997 – Bảo Đại, Vietnamese emperor (b. 1913)
  • 1998 – Buffalo Bob Smith, American television host (b. 1917)
  • 2001 – Anton Schwarzkopf, German engineer (b. 1924)
  • 2003 – Steve Hislop, Scottish motorcycle racer (b. 1962)
  • 2003 – Sam Phillips, American record producer, founded Sun Records (b. 1923)
  • 2005 – Ray Cunningham, American baseball player (b. 1905)
  • 2005 – John Garang, Sudanese colonel and politician, 6th President of South Sudan (b. 1945)
  • 2006 – Duygu Asena, Turkish journalist and author(b. 1946)
  • 2006 – Al Balding, Canadian golfer (b. 1924)
  • 2006 – Murray Bookchin, American philosopher and author (b. 1921)
  • 2006 – Anthony Galla-Rini, American accordion player and composer (b. 1904)
  • 2006 – Akbar Mohammadi, Iranian activist (b. 1972)
  • 2007 – Michelangelo Antonioni, Italian director and screenwriter (b. 1912)
  • 2007 – Teoctist Arăpașu, Romanian patriarch (b. 1915)
  • 2007 – Ingmar Bergman, Swedish director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1918)
  • 2007 – Bill Walsh, American football player and coach (b. 1931)
  • 2008 – Anne Armstrong, American businesswoman and diplomat, United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom (b. 1927)
  • 2009 – Mohammed Yusuf, Nigerian militant leader, founded Boko Haram (b. 1970)
  • 2009 – Peter Zadek, German director and screenwriter (b. 1926)
  • 2011 – Bob Peterson, American basketball player (b. 1932)
  • 2012 – Maeve Binchy, Irish author, playwright, and journalist (b. 1939)
  • 2012 – Bill Doss, American singer and guitarist (b. 1968)
  • 2012 – Stig Ossian Ericson, Swedish actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1923)
  • 2012 – Les Green, English footballer and manager (b. 1941)
  • 2012 – Jonathan Hardy, New Zealand-Australian actor and screenwriter (b. 1940)
  • 2012 – Bill Kitchen, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1960)
  • 2012 – Mary Louise Rasmuson, American colonel (b. 1911)
  • 2013 – Cecil Alexander, American architect, designed the State of Georgia Building (b. 1918)
  • 2013 – Berthold Beitz, German businessman (b. 1913)
  • 2013 – Robert Neelly Bellah, American sociologist and author (b. 1927)
  • 2013 – Harry F. Byrd Jr., American lieutenant, publisher, and politician (b. 1914)
  • 2013 – Antoni Ramallets, Spanish footballer and manager (b. 1924)
  • 2013 – Ossie Schectman, American basketball player (b. 1919)
  • 2013 – Benjamin Walker, Indian-English author, poet, and playwright (b. 1913)
  • 2014 – Robert Drew, American director and producer (b. 1924)
  • 2014 – Harun Farocki, German director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1944)
  • 2014 – Julio Grondona, Argentinian businessman (b. 1931)
  • 2014 – Peter Hall, English geographer, author, and academic (b. 1932)
  • 2014 – Dick Smith, American make-up artist (b. 1922)
  • 2014 – Dick Wagner, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1942)
  • 2015 – Lynn Anderson, American singer (b. 1947)
  • 2015 – Endel Lippmaa, Estonian physicist (b. 1930)
  • 2015 – Francis Paul Prucha, American historian and academic (b. 1921)
  • 2015 – Alena Vrzáňová, Czech figure skater (b. 1931)
  • 2016 – Gloria DeHaven, American actress, singer, and dancer (b. 1925)
  • 2018 – Michael A. Sheehan, American author, former government official and military officer (b. 1955)

Holidays and observances on July 30

  • Christian feast day:
    • Abdon and Sennen
    • Hatebrand
    • Maxima, Donatilla, and Secunda
    • Peter Chrysologus
    • Robert Barnes (Lutheran)
    • Rufinus of Assisi
    • Tatwine
    • Ursus of Auxerre
    • Solanus Casey
    • July 30 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Feast of the Throne (Morocco)
  • Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Vanuatu from the United Kingdom and France in 1980.
  • International Day of Friendship (international), and its related observances:
    • Día del Amigo (Paraguay)
  • Martyrs Day (South Sudan)

July 30 – History, Events, Births, Deaths Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

July 29 – History, Events, Births, Deaths Holidays and Observances On This Day

  • 587 BC – The Neo-Babylonian Empire sacks Jerusalem and destroys the First Temple.
  • 238 – The Praetorian Guard storm the palace and capture Pupienus and Balbinus. They are dragged through the streets of Rome and executed. On the same day, Gordian III, age 13, is proclaimed emperor.
  • 615 – Pakal ascends the throne of Palenque at the age of 12.
  • 904 – Sack of Thessalonica: Saracen raiders under Leo of Tripoli sack Thessaloniki, the Byzantine Empire’s second-largest city, after a short siege, and plunder it for a week.
  • 923 – Battle of Firenzuola: Lombard forces under King Rudolph II and Adalbert I, margrave of Ivrea, defeat the dethroned Emperor Berengar I of Italy at Firenzuola (Tuscany).
  • 1014 – Byzantine–Bulgarian wars: Battle of Kleidion: Byzantine emperor Basil II inflicts a decisive defeat on the Bulgarian army, and his subsequent treatment of 15,000 prisoners reportedly causes Tsar Samuil of Bulgaria to die of a heart attack less than three months later, on October 6.
  • 1018 – Count Dirk III defeats an army sent by Emperor Henry II in the Battle of Vlaardingen.
  • 1030 – Ladejarl-Fairhair succession wars: Battle of Stiklestad: King Olaf II fights and dies trying to regain his Norwegian throne from the Danes.
  • 1148 – The Siege of Damascus ends in a decisive crusader defeat and leads to the disintegration of the Second Crusade.
  • 1565 – The widowed Mary, Queen of Scots marries Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, Duke of Albany, at Holyrood Palace, Edinburgh, Scotland.
  • 1567 – James VI is crowned King of Scotland at Stirling.
  • 1588 – Anglo-Spanish War: Battle of Gravelines: English naval forces under the command of Lord Charles Howard and Sir Francis Drake defeat the Spanish Armada off the coast of Gravelines, France.
  • 1693 – War of the Grand Alliance: Battle of Landen: France wins a Pyrrhic victory over Allied forces in the Netherlands.
  • 1775 – Founding of the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps: General George Washington appoints William Tudor as Judge Advocate of the Continental Army.
  • 1818 – French physicist Augustin Fresnel submits his prizewinning “Memoir on the Diffraction of Light”, precisely accounting for the limited extent to which light spreads into shadows, and thereby demolishing the oldest objection to the wave theory of light.
  • 1836 – Inauguration of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, France.
  • 1848 – Irish Potato Famine: Tipperary Revolt: In County Tipperary, Ireland, then in the United Kingdom, an unsuccessful nationalist revolt against British rule is put down by police.
  • 1851 – Annibale de Gasparis discovers asteroid 15 Eunomia.
  • 1858 – United States and Japan sign the Harris Treaty.
  • 1864 – American Civil War: Confederate spy Belle Boyd is arrested by Union troops and detained at the Old Capitol Prison in Washington, D.C.
  • 1871 – The Connecticut Valley Railroad opens between Old Saybrook, Connecticut and Hartford, Connecticut in the United States.
  • 1899 – The First Hague Convention is signed.
  • 1900 – In Italy, King Umberto I of Italy is assassinated by the anarchist Gaetano Bresci.
  • 1907 – Sir Robert Baden-Powell sets up the Brownsea Island Scout camp in Poole Harbour on the south coast of England. The camp runs from August 1 to August 9, 1907, and is regarded as the foundation of the Scouting movement.
  • 1914 – The Cape Cod Canal opened.
  • 1920 – Construction of the Link River Dam begins as part of the Klamath Reclamation Project.
  • 1921 – Adolf Hitler becomes leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party.
  • 1932 – Great Depression: In Washington, D.C., troops disperse the last of the “Bonus Army” of World War I veterans.
  • 1937 – Tōngzhōu Incident: In Tōngzhōu, China, the East Hopei Army attacks Japanese troops and civilians.
  • 1945 – The BBC Light Programme radio station is launched for mainstream light entertainment and music.
  • 1948 – Olympic Games: The Games of the XIV Olympiad: After a hiatus of 12 years caused by World War II, the first Summer Olympics to be held since the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, open in London.
  • 1950 – Korean War: After four days, the No Gun Ri Massacre ends when the US Army 7th Cavalry Regiment is withdrawn.
  • 1957 – The International Atomic Energy Agency is established.
  • 1958 – U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs into law the National Aeronautics and Space Act, which creates the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
  • 1959 – First United States Congress elections in Hawaii as a state of the Union.
  • 1965 – Vietnam War: The first 4,000 101st Airborne Division paratroopers arrive in Vietnam, landing at Cam Ranh Bay.
  • 1967 – Vietnam War: Off the coast of North Vietnam the USS Forrestal catches on fire in the worst U.S. naval disaster since World War II, killing 134.
  • 1967 – During the fourth day of celebrating its 400th anniversary, the city of Caracas, Venezuela is shaken by an earthquake, leaving approximately 500 dead.
  • 1973 – Greeks vote to abolish the monarchy, beginning the first period of the Metapolitefsi.
  • 1973 – During the Dutch Grand Prix driver Roger Williamson was killed in the race, after a suspected tire failure caused the car to pitch into the barriers at high speed.
  • 1976 – In New York City, David Berkowitz (a.k.a. the “Son of Sam”) kills one person and seriously wounds another in the first of a series of attacks.
  • 1980 – Iran adopts a new “holy” flag after the Islamic Revolution.
  • 1981 – A worldwide television audience of over 700 million people watch the wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales, and Lady Diana Spencer at St Paul’s Cathedral in London.
  • 1981 – After impeachment on June 21, Abolhassan Banisadr flees with Massoud Rajavi to Paris, in an Iranian Air Force Boeing 707, piloted by Colonel Behzad Moezzi, to form the National Council of Resistance of Iran.
  • 1987 – British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and President of France François Mitterrand sign the agreement to build a tunnel under the English Channel (Eurotunnel).
  • 1987 – Prime Minister of India Rajiv Gandhi and President of Sri Lanka J. R. Jayewardene sign the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord on ethnic issues.
  • 1993 – The Supreme Court of Israel acquits alleged Nazi death camp guard John Demjanjuk of all charges and he is set free.
  • 1996 – The child protection portion of the Communications Decency Act is struck down by a U.S. federal court as too broad.
  • 2005 – Astronomers announce their discovery of the dwarf planet Eris.
  • 2010 – An overloaded passenger ferry capsizes on the Kasai River in Bandundu Province, Democratic Republic of the Congo, resulting in at least 80 deaths.
  • 2013 – Two passenger trains collide in the Swiss municipality of Granges-près-Marnand near Lausanne injuring 25 people.
  • 2019 – Prison riot between rival gangs broke out in Brazil, at least 57 people have been killed.

Births on July 29 

  • 869 – Muhammad al-Mahdi, Iraqi 12th Imam (d. 941)
  • 996 – Fujiwara no Norimichi, Japanese nobleman (d. 1075)
  • 1166 – Henry II, French nobleman and king of Jerusalem (d. 1197)
  • 1356 – Martin the Elder, king of Aragon, Valencia and Majorca (d. 1410)
  • 1537 – Pedro Téllez-Girón, Spanish nobleman (d. 1590)
  • 1573 – Philip II, duke of Pomerania-Stettin (d. 1618)
  • 1580 – Francesco Mochi, Italian sculptor (d. 1654)
  • 1605 – Simon Dach, German poet and hymn-writer (d. 1659)
  • 1646 – Johann Theile, German organist and composer (d. 1724)
  • 1744 – Giulio Maria della Somaglia, Italian cardinal (d. 1830)
  • 1763 – Philip Charles Durham, Scottish admiral and politician (d. 1845)
  • 1797 – Daniel Drew, American businessman and financier (d. 1879)
  • 1801 – George Bradshaw, English cartographer and publisher (d. 1853)
  • 1805 – Alexis de Tocqueville, French historian and philosopher (d. 1859)
  • 1806 – Horace Abbott, American businessman and banker (d. 1887)
  • 1817 – Ivan Aivazovsky, Armenian-Russian painter and illustrator (d. 1900)
  • 1817 – Martin Körber, Baltic German pastor, composer, and conductor (d. 1893)
  • 1841 – Gerhard Armauer Hansen, Norwegian physician (d. 1912)
  • 1843 – Johannes Schmidt, German linguist and academic (d. 1901)
  • 1846 – Sophie Menter, German pianist and composer (d. 1918)
  • 1846 – Isabel, Brazilian princess (d. 1921)
  • 1849 – Max Nordau, Hungarian physician, author, and critic, co-founded the World Zionist Organization (d. 1923)
  • 1860 – Charles Cochrane-Baillie, 2nd Baron Lamington, English politician, 8th Governor of Queensland (d. 1940)
  • 1867 – Berthold Oppenheim, Moravian rabbi (d. 1942)
  • 1869 – Booth Tarkington, American novelist and dramatist (d. 1946)
  • 1871 – Jakob Mändmets, Estonian writer and journalist (d. 1930)
  • 1872 – Eric Alfred Knudsen, American author, lawyer, and politician (d. 1957)
  • 1874 – J. S. Woodsworth, Canadian minister and politician (d. 1942)
  • 1876 – Maria Ouspenskaya, Russian-American actress and acting teacher (d. 1949)
  • 1878 – Don Marquis, American author, poet, and playwright (d. 1937)
  • 1883 – Porfirio Barba-Jacob, Colombian poet and author (d. 1942)
  • 1883 – Benito Mussolini, Italian fascist revolutionary and politician, 27th Prime Minister of Italy (d. 1945)
  • 1884 – Ralph Austin Bard, American financier and politician, 2nd Under Secretary of the Navy (d. 1975)
  • 1885 – Theda Bara, American actress (d. 1955)
  • 1887 – Sigmund Romberg, Hungarian-American pianist and composer (d. 1951)
  • 1888 – Vladimir K. Zworykin, Russian-American engineer, invented the Iconoscope (d. 1982)
  • 1891 – Bernhard Zondek, German-Israeli gynecologist and academic (d. 1966)
  • 1892 – William Powell, American actor and singer (d. 1984)
  • 1896 – Maria L. de Hernández, Mexican-American rights activist (d. 1986)
  • 1897 – Neil Ritchie, Guyanese-English general (d. 1983)
  • 1898 – Isidor Isaac Rabi, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize Laureate (d. 1988)
  • 1899 – Walter Beall, American baseball player (d. 1959)
  • 1900 – Mary V. Austin, Australian community worker and political activist (d. 1986)
  • 1900 – Eyvind Johnson, Swedish novelist and short story writer, Nobel Prize Laureate (d. 1976)
  • 1900 – Teresa Noce, Italian labor leader, activist, and journalist (d. 1980)
  • 1900 – Don Redman, American composer, and bandleader (d. 1964)
  • 1904 – Mahasi Sayadaw, Burmese monk and philosopher (d. 1982)
  • 1904 – J. R. D. Tata, French-Indian pilot and businessman, founded Tata Motors and Tata Global Beverages (d. 1993)
  • 1905 – Clara Bow, American actress (d. 1965)
  • 1905 – Dag Hammarskjöld, Swedish economist and diplomat, 2nd Secretary-General of the United Nations, Nobel Prize Laureate (d. 1961)
  • 1905 – Stanley Kunitz, American poet and translator (d. 2006)
  • 1906 – Thelma Todd, American actress and singer (d. 1935)
  • 1907 – Melvin Belli, American lawyer (d. 1996)
  • 1909 – Samm Sinclair Baker, American author (d. 1997)
  • 1909 – Chester Himes, American-Spanish author (d. 1984)
  • 1910 – Gale Page, American actress (d. 1983)
  • 1911 – Foster Furcolo, American lawyer and politician, 60th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1995)
  • 1911 – Archbishop Iakovos of America (d. 2005)
  • 1913 – Erich Priebke, German war criminal, leader of the 1944 Ardeatine massacre (d. 2013)
  • 1914 – Irwin Corey, American actor and activist (d. 2017)
  • 1915 – Bruce R. McConkie, American colonel and religious leader (d. 1985)
  • 1915 – Francis W. Sargent, American soldier and politician, 64th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1998)
  • 1916 – Budd Boetticher, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2001)
  • 1916 – Charlie Christian, American guitarist (d. 1942)
  • 1916 – Rupert Hamer, Australian politician, 39th Premier of Victoria (d. 2004)
  • 1917 – Rochus Misch, German SS officer (d. 2013)
  • 1918 – Don Ingalls, American writer and producer (d. 2014)
  • 1918 – Edwin O’Connor, American journalist and author (d. 1968)
  • 1918 – Mary Lee Settle, American novelist, essayist, and memoirist (d. 2005)
  • 1920 – Neville Jeffress, Australian businessman (d. 2007)
  • 1921 – Richard Egan, American actor (d. 1987)
  • 1921 – Chris Marker, French photographer and journalist (d. 2012)
  • 1923 – George Burditt, American screenwriter and producer (d. 2013)
  • 1923 – Edgar Cortright, American scientist and engineer (d. 2014)
  • 1923 – Jim Marshall, English businessman, founded Marshall Amplification (d. 2012)
  • 1923 – Gordon Mitchell, American bodybuilder and actor (d. 2003)
  • 1924 – Lloyd Bochner, Canadian-American actor (d. 2005)
  • 1924 – Robert Horton, American actor (d. 2016)
  • 1925 – Harold W. Kuhn, American mathematician and academic (d. 2014)
  • 1925 – Ted Lindsay, Canadian ice hockey player, manager, and sportscaster (d. 2019)
  • 1925 – Mikis Theodorakis, Greek composer
  • 1926 – Robert Kilpatrick, Baron Kilpatrick of Kincraig, Scottish physician, academic, and politician (d. 2015)
  • 1927 – Harry Mulisch, Dutch author, poet, and playwright (d. 2010)
  • 1930 – Paul Taylor, American dancer and choreographer (d. 2018)
  • 1931 – Kjell Karlsen, Norwegian pianist, composer, and bandleader (d. 2020)
  • 1932 – Leslie Fielding, English diplomat
  • 1932 – Nancy Kassebaum, American businesswoman and politician
  • 1933 – Lou Albano, Italian-American wrestler, manager, and actor (d. 2009)
  • 1933 – Colin Davis, English race car driver (d. 2012)
  • 1933 – Robert Fuller, American actor and rancher
  • 1933 – Randy Sparks, American folk singer-songwriter and musician (The New Christy Minstrels)
  • 1935 – Peter Schreier, German tenor and conductor (d. 2019)
  • 1936 – Elizabeth Dole, American lawyer and politician, 20th United States Secretary of Labor
  • 1937 – Daniel McFadden, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize Laureate
  • 1938 – Peter Jennings, Canadian-American journalist and author (d. 2005)
  • 1938 – Jean Rochon, Canadian physician and politician
  • 1940 – Betty Harris, American chemist
  • 1940 – Winnie Monsod, Filipina economist and political commentator
  • 1941 – Jennifer Dunn, American engineer and politician (d. 2007)
  • 1941 – Goenawan Mohamad, Indonesian poet and playwright
  • 1941 – David Warner, English actor
  • 1942 – Doug Ashdown, Australian singer-songwriter
  • 1943 – David Taylor, English snooker player and sportscaster
  • 1944 – Jim Bridwell, American rock climber and mountaineer
  • 1945 – Sharon Creech, American author and educator
  • 1945 – Mircea Lucescu, Romanian footballer, coach, and manager
  • 1946 – Ximena Armas, Chilean painter
  • 1946 – Stig Blomqvist, Swedish race car driver
  • 1946 – Neal Doughty, American keyboard player, songwriter, and producer
  • 1946 – Alessandro Gogna, Italian mountaineer and adventurer
  • 1946 – Diane Keen, English actress
  • 1946 – Aleksei Tammiste, Estonian basketball player
  • 1947 – Dick Harmon, American golfer and coach (d. 2006)
  • 1948 – John Clarke, New Zealand-Australian comedian, actor, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2017)
  • 1949 – Leslie Easterbrook, American actress
  • 1949 – Jamil Mahuad, Ecuadorian lawyer and politician, 51st President of Ecuador
  • 1950 – Jenny Holzer, American painter, author, and dancer
  • 1951 – Susan Blackmore, English psychologist and theorist
  • 1951 – Dan Driessen, American baseball player and coach
  • 1951 – Dean Pitchford, American actor, director, screenwriter, and composer
  • 1952 – Norman Blackwell, Baron Blackwell, English businessman and politician
  • 1952 – Joe Johnson, English snooker player and sportscaster
  • 1952 – Marie Panayotopoulos-Cassiotou, Greek politician
  • 1953 – Ken Burns, American director and producer
  • 1953 – Geddy Lee, Canadian musician
  • 1953 – Frank McGuinness, Irish poet and playwright
  • 1953 – Tim Gunn, American television host and actor
  • 1954 – Patti Scialfa, American musician
  • 1955 – Jean-Hugues Anglade, French actor, director, and screenwriter
  • 1955 – Dave Stevens, American illustrator (d. 2008)
  • 1955 – Stephen Timms, English politician, Minister of State for Competitiveness
  • 1956 – Teddy Atlas, American boxer, trainer, and sportscaster
  • 1956 – Ronnie Musgrove, American lawyer and politician, 62nd Governor of Mississippi
  • 1956 – Faustino Rupérez, Spanish cyclist
  • 1957 – Liam Davison, Australian author and educator (d. 2014)
  • 1957 – Viktor Gavrikov, Lithuanian-Swiss chess player (d. 2016)
  • 1957 – Nellie Kim, Russian gymnast and coach
  • 1958 – Gail Dines, English-American author, activist, and academic
  • 1958 – Simon Nye, English screenwriter and producer
  • 1958 – Cynthia Rowley, American fashion designer
  • 1959 – Sanjay Dutt, Indian actor, singer, and producer
  • 1959 – Ruud Janssen, Dutch blogger and illustrator
  • 1959 – Dave LaPoint, American baseball player and manager
  • 1959 – John Sykes, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1960 – Didier Van Cauwelaert, French author
  • 1962 – Carl Cox, English DJ and producer
  • 1962 – Frank Neubarth, German footballer and manager
  • 1962 – Scott Steiner, American wrestler
  • 1962 – Vincent Rousseau, Belgian runner
  • 1963 – Hans-Holger Albrecht, Belgian-German businessman
  • 1963 – Jim Beglin, Irish footballer and sportscaster
  • 1963 – Julie Elliott, English politician
  • 1963 – Azeem Hafeez, Pakistani cricketer
  • 1963 – Alexandra Paul, American actress and producer
  • 1963 – Graham Poll, English footballer, referee, and journalist
  • 1964 – Jaanus Veensalu, Estonian footballer
  • 1965 – Luis Alicea, Puerto Rican-American baseball player and coach
  • 1965 – Dean Haglund, Canadian actor, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1965 – Adam Holloway, English captain and politician
  • 1965 – Stan Koziol, American soccer player (d. 2014)
  • 1965 – Chang-Rae Lee, South Korean-American author and academic
  • 1965 – Xavier Waterkeyn, Australian author
  • 1965 – Woody Weatherman, American guitarist and songwriter
  • 1966 – Sally Gunnell, English hurdler and sportscaster
  • 1966 – Stuart Lampitt, English cricketer
  • 1966 – Martina McBride, American singer-songwriter and producer
  • 1968 – Gideon Henderson, English geologist and academic
  • 1968 – Paavo Lötjönen, Finnish cellist and educator
  • 1970 – Adele Griffin, American author
  • 1970 – Andi Peters, English journalist, actor, and producer
  • 1970 – John Rennie, Zimbabwean cricketer
  • 1971 – Andrea Philipp, German sprinter
  • 1972 – Wil Wheaton, American actor, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1973 – Stephen Dorff, American actor and producer
  • 1973 – Denis Urubko, Kazakh mountaineer
  • 1975 – Yoshihiro Akiyama, Japanese mixed martial artist
  • 1975 – Lanka de Silva, Sri Lankan cricketer
  • 1975 – Corrado Grabbi, Italian footballer
  • 1975 – Jaanus Sirel, Estonian footballer
  • 1978 – Mike Adams, American baseball player
  • 1978 – Marina Lazarovska, Macedonian tennis player
  • 1979 – Karim Essediri, Tunisian footballer
  • 1979 – Ronald Murray, American basketball player
  • 1979 – Juris Umbraško, Latvian basketball player
  • 1980 – Ryan Braun, Canadian-American baseball player
  • 1980 – Fernando González, Chilean tennis player
  • 1980 – Ben Koller, American drummer
  • 1980 – John Morris, Australian rugby league player
  • 1981 – Fernando Alonso, Spanish race car driver
  • 1981 – Andrés Madrid, Argentinian footballer
  • 1981 – Troy Perkins, American soccer player
  • 1982 – Janez Aljančič, Slovenian footballer
  • 1982 – Jônatas Domingos, Brazilian footballer
  • 1982 – Allison Mack, American actress and criminal
  • 1983 – Jason Belmonte, Australian bowler
  • 1983 – Inés Gómez Mont, Mexican journalist and actress
  • 1983 – Alexei Kaigorodov, Russian ice hockey player
  • 1983 – Jerious Norwood, American football player
  • 1983 – Elise Testone, American singer-songwriter
  • 1984 – Oh Beom-seok, South Korean footballer
  • 1984 – Chad Billingsley, American baseball player
  • 1984 – Wilson Palacios, Honduran footballer
  • 1985 – Besart Berisha, Albanian footballer
  • 1985 – Okinoumi Ayumi, Japanese sumo wrestler
  • 1985 – Simon Santoso, Indonesian badminton player
  • 1988 – Tarjei Bø, Norwegian biathlete
  • 1989 – Grit Šadeiko, Estonian heptathlete
  • 1991 – Dale Copley, Australian rugby league player
  • 1991 – Irakli Logua, Russian footballer
  • 1992 – Karen Torrez, Bolivian swimmer
  • 1993 – Nicole Melichar, American tennis player
  • 1994 – Liam O’Brien, Canadian ice hockey player

Deaths on July 29

  • 238 – Balbinus, Roman emperor (b. 165)
  • 238 – Pupienus, Roman emperor (b. 178)
  • 451 – Tuoba Huang, prince of Northern Wei (b. 428)
  • 796 – Offa of Mercia (b. 730)
  • 846 – Li Shen, chancellor of the Tang Dynasty
  • 1030 – Olaf II of Norway (b. 995)
  • 1095 – Ladislaus I of Hungary (b. 1040)
  • 1099 – Pope Urban II (b. 1042)
  • 1108 – Philip I of France (b. 1052)
  • 1236 – Ingeborg of Denmark, Queen of France (b. 1175)
  • 1326 – Richard Óg de Burgh, 2nd Earl of Ulster (b. 1259)
  • 1504 – Thomas Stanley, 1st Earl of Derby (b. 1435)
  • 1507 – Martin Behaim, German-Bohemian geographer and astronomer (b. 1459)
  • 1573 – John Caius, English physician and academic (b. 1510)
  • 1612 – Jacques Bongars, French scholar and diplomat (b. 1554)
  • 1644 – Pope Urban VIII (b. 1568)
  • 1752 – Peter Warren, Irish admiral and politician (b. 1703)
  • 1781 – Johann Kies, German astronomer and mathematician (b. 1713)
  • 1792 – René Nicolas Charles Augustin de Maupeou, French lawyer and politician, Chancellor of France (b. 1714)
  • 1813 – Jean-Andoche Junot, French general (b. 1771)
  • 1833 – William Wilberforce, English philanthropist and politician (b. 1759)
  • 1839 – Gaspard de Prony, French mathematician and engineer (b. 1755)
  • 1844 – Franz Xaver Wolfgang Mozart, Austrian pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1791)
  • 1856 – Robert Schumann, German composer and critic (b. 1810)
  • 1857 – Thomas Dick, Scottish minister, astronomer, and author (b. 1774)
  • 1887 – Agostino Depretis, Italian politician, 9th Prime Minister of Italy (d. 1813)
  • 1890 – Vincent van Gogh, Dutch painter and illustrator (b. 1853)
  • 1895 – Floriano Peixoto, Brazilian general and politician, 2nd President of Brazil (b. 1839)
  • 1900 – Umberto I of Italy (b. 1844)
  • 1908 – Marie Adam-Doerrer (b. 1838)
  • 1913 – Tobias Asser, Dutch lawyer and jurist, Nobel Prize Laureate (b. 1838)
  • 1918 – Ernest William Christmas, Australian-American painter (b. 1863)
  • 1924 – Sotirios Krokidas, Greek educator and politician, 110th Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1852)
  • 1934 – Didier Pitre, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1883)
  • 1938 – Nikolai Krylenko, Russian lawyer, jurist, and politician, Prosecutor General of the Russian SFSR (b. 1885)
  • 1950 – Joe Fry, English race car driver (b. 1915)
  • 1951 – Ali Sami Yen, Turkish footballer and manager, founded Galatasaray S.K. (b. 1886)
  • 1954 – Coen de Koning, Dutch speed skater (b. 1879)
  • 1960 – Hasan Saka, Turkish politician, 7th Prime Minister of Turkey (b. 1885)
  • 1962 – Ronald Fisher, English biologist and statistician (b. 1890)
  • 1962 – Leonardo De Lorenzo, Italian-American flute player and educator (b. 1875)
  • 1964 – Vean Gregg, American baseball player (b. 1885)
  • 1966 – Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi, Nigerian general and politician, 2nd Head of State of Nigeria (b. 1924)
  • 1966 – Adekunle Fajuyi, Nigerian colonel (b. 1926)
  • 1970 – John Barbirolli, English cellist and conductor (b. 1899)
  • 1973 – Norm Smith, Australian footballer and coach (b. 1915)
  • 1973 – Roger Williamson, English race car driver (b. 1948)
  • 1974 – Cass Elliot, American singer (b. 1941)
  • 1974 – Erich Kästner, German author and poet (b. 1899)
  • 1976 – Mickey Cohen, American gangster (b. 1913)
  • 1978 – Andrzej Bogucki, Polish actor, operetta singer, and songwriter (b. 1904)
  • 1979 – Herbert Marcuse, German sociologist and philosopher (b. 1898)
  • 1979 – Bill Todman, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1916)
  • 1981 – Robert Moses, American urban planner, designed the Northern State Parkway and Southern State Parkway (b. 1888)
  • 1982 – Harold Sakata, American wrestler and actor (b. 1920)
  • 1982 – Vladimir K. Zworykin, Russian-American engineer, invented the Iconoscope (b. 1889)
  • 1983 – Luis Buñuel, Spanish actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1900)
  • 1983 – Raymond Massey, Canadian-American actor and screenwriter (b. 1896)
  • 1983 – David Niven, English military officer and actor (b. 1910)
  • 1984 – Fred Waring, American television host and bandleader (b. 1900)
  • 1987 – Bibhutibhushan Mukhopadhyay, Indian author, poet, and playwright (b. 1894)
  • 1990 – Bruno Kreisky, Austrian academic and politician, 22nd Chancellor of Austria (b. 1911)
  • 1992 – Michel Larocque, Canadian ice hockey player and manager (b. 1952)
  • 1994 – John Britton, American physician (b. 1925)
  • 1994 – Dorothy Hodgkin, Egyptian-English biochemist and biophysicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1910)
  • 1995 – Les Elgart, American trumpet player and bandleader (b. 1917)
  • 1996 – Ric Nordman, Canadian businessman and politician (b. 1919)
  • 1996 – Marcel-Paul Schützenberger, French mathematician and theorist (b. 1920)
  • 1996 – Jason Thirsk, American singer and bass player (b. 1967)
  • 1998 – Jerome Robbins, American director, producer, and choreographer (b. 1918)
  • 2001 – Edward Gierek, Polish soldier and politician (b. 1913)
  • 2001 – Wau Holland, German computer scientist, co-founded Chaos Computer Club (b. 1951)
  • 2003 – Foday Sankoh, Sierra Leonean soldier, founded the Revolutionary United Front (b. 1937)
  • 2004 – Rena Vlahopoulou, Greek actress and singer (b. 1923)
  • 2007 – Mike Reid, English comedian, actor, and author (b. 1940)
  • 2007 – Michel Serrault, French actor (b. 1928)
  • 2007 – Tom Snyder, American journalist and talk show host (b. 1936)
  • 2007 – Marvin Zindler, American journalist (b. 1921)
  • 2008 – Bruce Edward Ivins, American scientist and bio-defense researcher (b. 1946)
  • 2010 – Charles E. Wicks, American chemist and academic (b. 1925)
  • 2012 – Tatiana Egorova, Russian footballer and manager (b. 1970)
  • 2012 – August Kowalczyk, Polish actor and director (b. 1921)
  • 2012 – Chris Marker, French photographer and journalist (b. 1921)
  • 2012 – James Mellaart, English archaeologist and author (b. 1925)
  • 2012 – John Stampe, Danish footballer and coach (b. 1957)
  • 2013 – Christian Benítez, Ecuadorian footballer (b. 1986)
  • 2013 – Peter Flanigan, American banker and civil servant (b. 1923)
  • 2013 – Tony Gaze, Australian soldier, pilot, and race car driver (b. 1920)
  • 2013 – Munir Hussain, Indian cricketer and sportscaster (b. 1929)
  • 2014 – M. Caldwell Butler, American soldier, lawyer, and politician (b. 1925)
  • 2014 – Jon R. Cavaiani, English-American sergeant, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1943)
  • 2014 – Giorgio Gaslini, Italian pianist and composer (b. 1929)
  • 2014 – María Antonia Iglesias, Spanish journalist and author (b. 1945)
  • 2014 – Péter Kiss, Hungarian engineer and politician (b. 1959)
  • 2014 – Idris Muhammad, American drummer and composer (b. 1939)
  • 2014 – Thomas R. St. George, American soldier and author (b. 1919)
  • 2015 – Antony Holland, English-Canadian actor, director, and playwright (b. 1920)
  • 2015 – Peter O’Sullevan, Anglo-Irish sportscaster (b. 1918)
  • 2015 – Mike Pyle, American football player and sportscaster (b. 1939)
  • 2015 – Franklin H. Westervelt, American computer scientist, engineer, and academic (b. 1930)
  • 2018 – Oliver Dragojević, a Croatian recording artist (b. 1947)
  • 2018 – Josip Peruzovic, Yugoslav-born American professional wrestler (b. 1947)

Holidays and observances on July 29

  • Christian feast day:
    • Lupus of Troyes
    • Martha of Bethany (Catholic, Anglican, and Lutheran Church)
    • Mary of Bethany
    • Olaf II of Norway
    • Simplicius, Faustinus and Beatrix
    • July 29 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Earliest day on which Somer’s Day can fall, while August 4 is the latest; celebrated on Friday before the first Monday in August. (Bermuda)
  • International Tiger Day
  • Mohun Bagan Day (India)
  • National Anthem Day (Romania)
  • National Thai Language Day (Thailand)
  • Ólavsøka or Olsok, opening of the Løgting session. (Faroe Islands and the Nordic countries)

July 29 – History, Events, Births, Deaths Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

July 25 – History, Events, Births, Deaths Holidays and Observances On This Day

  • 306 – Constantine I is proclaimed Roman emperor by his troops.
  • 315 – The Arch of Constantine is completed near the Colosseum in Rome to commemorate Constantine I’s victory over Maxentius at the Milvian Bridge.
  • 677 – Climax of the Siege of Thessalonica by the Slavs in a three-day assault on the city walls.
  • 864 – The Edict of Pistres of Charles the Bald orders defensive measures against the Vikings.
  • 1137 – Eleanor of Aquitaine marries Prince Louis, later King Louis VII of France, at the Cathedral of Saint-André in Bordeaux.
  • 1139 – Battle of Ourique: The Almoravids, led by Ali ibn Yusuf, are defeated by Prince Afonso Henriques who is proclaimed King of Portugal.
  • 1261 – The city of Constantinople is recaptured by Nicaean forces under the command of Alexios Strategopoulos, re-establishing the Byzantine Empire.
  • 1278 – The naval Battle of Algeciras takes place in the context of the Spanish Reconquista resulting in a victory for the Emirate of Granada and the Maranid Dynasty over the Kingdom of Castile.
  • 1467 – The Battle of Molinella: The first battle in Italy in which firearms are used extensively.
  • 1536 – Sebastián de Belalcázar on his search of El Dorado founds the city of Santiago de Cali.
  • 1538 – The city of Guayaquil is founded by the Spanish Conquistador Francisco de Orellana and given the name Muy Noble y Muy Leal Ciudad de Santiago de Guayaquil.
  • 1547 – Henry II of France is crowned.
  • 1554 – Mary I marries Philip II of Spain at Winchester Cathedral.
  • 1567 – Don Diego de Losada founds the city of Santiago de Leon de Caracas, modern-day Caracas, the capital city of Venezuela.
  • 1593 – Henry IV of France publicly converts from Protestantism to Roman Catholicism.
  • 1603 – James VI of Scotland is crowned king of England (James I of England), bringing the Kingdom of England and Kingdom of Scotland into personal union. Political union would occur in 1707.
  • 1609 – The English ship Sea Venture, en route to Virginia, is deliberately driven ashore during a storm at Bermuda to prevent its sinking; the survivors go on to found a new colony there.
  • 1693 – Ignacio de Maya founds the Real Santiago de las Sabinas, now known as Sabinas Hidalgo, Nuevo León, Mexico.
  • 1722 – Dummer’s War begins along the Maine-Massachusetts border.
  • 1755 – British governor Charles Lawrence and the Nova Scotia Council order the deportation of the Acadians.
  • 1759 – French and Indian War: In Western New York, British forces capture Fort Niagara from the French, who subsequently abandon Fort Rouillé.
  • 1783 – American Revolutionary War: The war’s last action, the Siege of Cuddalore, is ended by a preliminary peace agreement.
  • 1788 – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart completes his Symphony No. 40 in G minor (K550).
  • 1792 – The Brunswick Manifesto is issued to the population of Paris promising vengeance if the French royal family is harmed.
  • 1797 – Horatio Nelson loses more than 300 men and his right arm during the failed conquest attempt of Tenerife (Spain).
  • 1799 – At Abu Qir in Egypt, Napoleon I of France defeats 10,000 Ottomans under Mustafa Pasha.
  • 1814 – War of 1812: An American attack on Canada is repulsed.
  • 1824 – Costa Rica annexes Guanacaste from Nicaragua.
  • 1837 – The first commercial use of an electrical telegraph is successfully demonstrated in London by William Cooke and Charles Wheatstone.
  • 1853 – Joaquin Murrieta, the famous Californio bandit known as the “Robin Hood of El Dorado”, is killed.
  • 1861 – American Civil War: The United States Congress passes the Crittenden–Johnson Resolution, stating that the war is being fought to preserve the Union and not to end slavery.
  • 1866 – The United States Congress passes legislation authorizing the rank of General of the Army. Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant becomes the first to be promoted to this rank.
  • 1868 – The Wyoming Territory is established.
  • 1869 – The Japanese daimyōs begin returning their land holdings to the emperor as part of the Meiji Restoration reforms. (Traditional Japanese Date: June 17, 1869).
  • 1894 – The First Sino-Japanese War begins when the Japanese fire upon a Chinese warship.
  • 1898 – In the Puerto Rican Campaign, the United States seizes Puerto Rico from Spain.
  • 1908 – Ajinomoto is founded. Kikunae Ikeda of the Tokyo Imperial University discovers that a key ingredient in kombu soup stock is monosodium glutamate (MSG), and patents a process for manufacturing it.
  • 1909 – Louis Blériot makes the first flight across the English Channel in a heavier-than-air machine from Calais to Dover, England, United Kingdom in 37 minutes.
  • 1915 – RFC Captain Lanoe Hawker becomes the first British pursuit aviator to earn the Victoria Cross.
  • 1917 – Sir Robert Borden introduces the first income tax in Canada as a “temporary” measure (lowest bracket is 4% and highest is 25%).
  • 1925 – Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union (TASS) is established.
  • 1934 – The Nazis assassinate Austrian Chancellor Engelbert Dollfuss in a failed coup attempt.
  • 1940 – General Henri Guisan orders the Swiss Army to resist German invasion and makes surrender illegal.
  • 1942 – The Norwegian Manifesto calls for nonviolent resistance to the German occupation.
  • 1943 – World War II: Benito Mussolini is forced out of office by the Grand Council of Fascism and is replaced by Pietro Badoglio.
  • 1944 – World War II: Operation Spring is one of the bloodiest days for the First Canadian Army during the war.
  • 1946 – Nuclear weapons testing: Operation Crossroads: An atomic bomb is detonated underwater in the lagoon of Bikini Atoll.
  • 1956 – Forty-five miles south of Nantucket Island, the Italian ocean liner SS Andrea Doria collides with the MS Stockholm in heavy fog and sinks the next day, killing 51.
  • 1957 – The Republic of Tunisia is proclaimed, under President Habib Bourguiba.
  • 1958 – The African Regroupment Party (PRA) holds its first congress in Cotonou.
  • 1961 – Cold War: In a speech John F. Kennedy emphasizes that any attack on Berlin is an attack on NATO.
  • 1965 – Bob Dylan goes electric at the Newport Folk Festival, signaling a major change in folk and rock music.
  • 1969 – Vietnam War: U.S. President Richard Nixon declares the Nixon Doctrine, stating that the United States now expects its Asian allies to take care of their own military defense. This is the start of the “Vietnamization” of the war.
  • 1973 – Soviet Mars 5 space probe is launched.
  • 1976 – Viking program: Viking 1 takes the famous Face on Mars photo.
  • 1978 – Puerto Rican police shoot two nationalists in the Cerro Maravilla murders.
  • 1978 – Birth of Louise Joy Brown, the first human to have been born after conception by in vitro fertilisation, or IVF.
  • 1979 – Another section of the Sinai Peninsula is peacefully returned by Israel to Egypt.
  • 1983 – Black July: Thirty-seven Tamil political prisoners at the Welikada high security prison in Colombo are massacred by the fellow Sinhalese prisoners.
  • 1984 – Salyut 7 cosmonaut Svetlana Savitskaya becomes the first woman to perform a space walk.
  • 1993 – Israel launches a massive attack against Lebanon in what the Israelis call Operation Accountability, and the Lebanese call the Seven-Day War.
  • 1993 – The Saint James Church massacre occurs in Kenilworth, Cape Town, South Africa.
  • 1994 – Israel and Jordan sign the Washington Declaration, that formally ends the state of war that had existed between the nations since 1948.
  • 1995 – A gas bottle explodes in Saint Michel station of line B of the RER (Paris regional train network). Eight are killed and 80 wounded.
  • 1996 – In a military coup in Burundi, Pierre Buyoya deposes Sylvestre Ntibantunganya.
  • 2000 – Concorde Air France Flight 4590 crashes at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport, killing 113 people.
  • 2007 – Pratibha Patil is sworn in as India’s first female president.
  • 2010 – WikiLeaks publishes classified documents about the War in Afghanistan, one of the largest leaks in U.S. military history.
  • 2018 – As-Suwayda attacks: Coordinated attacks occur in Syria.
  • 2019 – National extreme heat records set this day in the UK, Belgium and Germany during the July 2019 European heatwave.

Births on July 25

  • 975 – Thietmar, bishop of Merseburg (d. 1018)
  • 1016 – Casimir I the Restorer, duke of Poland (d. 1058)
  • 1109 – Afonso I, king of Portugal (d. 1185)
  • 1165 – Ibn Arabi, Andalusian Sufi mystic, poet, and philosopher (d. 1240)
  • 1261 – Arthur II, Duke of Brittany (d. 1312)
  • 1291 – Hawys Gadarn, Welsh noblewoman (d. 1353)
  • 1336 – Albert I, Duke of Bavaria (d. 1404)
  • 1394 – James I, king of Scotland (d. 1437)
  • 1404 – Philip I, Duke of Brabant (d. 1430)
  • 1421 – Henry Percy, 3rd Earl of Northumberland, English politician (d. 1461)
  • 1450 – Jakob Wimpfeling, Renaissance humanist (d. 1528)
  • 1486 – Albrecht VII, Duke of Mecklenburg (d. 1547)
  • 1498 – Hernando de Aragón, Archbishop of Zaragoza (d. 1575)
  • 1532 – Alphonsus Rodriguez, Jesuit lay brother and saint (d. 1617)
  • 1556 – George Peele, English translator, poet, and dramatist (d. 1596)
  • 1562 – Katō Kiyomasa, Japanese warlord (d. 1611)
  • 1573 – Christoph Scheiner, German astronomer and Jesuit (d. 1650)
  • 1581 – Brian Twyne, English archivist (d. 1644)
  • 1605 – Theodore Haak, German scholar (d. 1690)
  • 1633 – Joseph Williamson, English politician (d. 1701)
  • 1654 – Agostino Steffani, Italian composer and diplomat (d. 1728)
  • 1657 – Philipp Heinrich Erlebach, German composer (d. 1714)
  • 1658 – Archibald Campbell, 1st Duke of Argyll, Scottish general (d. 1703)
  • 1683 – Pieter Langendijk, Dutch playwright and poet (d. 1756)
  • 1750 – Henry Knox, American general and politician, 1st United States Secretary of War (d. 1806)
  • 1753 – Santiago de Liniers, 1st Count of Buenos Aires, French-Spanish captain and politician, 10th Viceroy of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata (d. 1810)
  • 1797 – Princess Augusta of Hesse-Kassel (d. 1889)
  • 1806 – Maria Weston Chapman, American abolitionist (d. 1885)
  • 1839 – Francis Garnier, French captain and explorer (d. 1873)
  • 1844 – Thomas Eakins, American painter, sculptor, and photographer (d. 1916)
  • 1847 – Paul Langerhans, German pathologist, physiologist and biologist (d. 1888)
  • 1848 – Arthur Balfour, Scottish-English lieutenant and politician, 33rd Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1930)
  • 1857 – Frank J. Sprague, American naval officer and inventor (d. 1934)
  • 1865 – Jac. P. Thijsse, Dutch botanist and conservationist (d. 1945)
  • 1866 – Frederick Blackman, English physiologist and academic (d. 1947)
  • 1867 – Max Dauthendey, German author and painter (d. 1918)
  • 1867 – Alexander Rummler, American painter (d. 1959)
  • 1869 – Platon, Estonian bishop and saint (d. 1919)
  • 1870 – Maxfield Parrish, American painter and illustrator (d. 1966)
  • 1875 – Jim Corbett, Indian hunter, environmentalist, and author (d. 1955)
  • 1878 – Masaharu Anesaki, Japanese philosopher and scholar (d. 1949)
  • 1882 – George S. Rentz, American commander (d. 1942)
  • 1883 – Alfredo Casella, Italian pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1947)
  • 1886 – Edward Cummins, American golfer (d. 1926)
  • 1894 – Walter Brennan, American actor (d. 1974)
  • 1894 – Gavrilo Princip, Bosnian Serb revolutionary (d. 1918)
  • 1895 – Ingeborg Spangsfeldt, Danish actress (d. 1968)
  • 1896 – Jack Perrin, American actor and stuntman (d. 1967)
  • 1896 – Josephine Tey, Scottish author and playwright (d. 1952)
  • 1901 – Ruth Krauss, American author and poet (d. 1993)
  • 1901 – Mohammed Helmy, Egyptian physician and Righteous Among the Nations (d.1982)
  • 1901 – Lila Lee, American actress and singer (d. 1973)
  • 1902 – Eric Hoffer, American philosopher and author (d. 1983)
  • 1905 – Elias Canetti, Bulgarian-Swiss novelist, playwright, and memoirist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1994)
  • 1905 – Georges Grignard, French race car driver (d. 1977)
  • 1905 – Denys Watkins-Pitchford, English author and illustrator (d. 1990)
  • 1906 – Johnny Hodges, American saxophonist and clarinet player (d. 1970)
  • 1908 – Bill Bowes, English cricketer (d. 1987)
  • 1908 – Ambroise-Marie Carré, French priest and author (d. 2004)
  • 1908 – Jack Gilford, American actor (d. 1990)
  • 1914 – Woody Strode, American football player and actor (d. 1994)
  • 1915 – S. U. Ethirmanasingham, Sri Lankan businessman and politician
  • 1915 – Joseph P. Kennedy Jr., American lieutenant and pilot (d. 1944)
  • 1916 – Lucien Saulnier, Canadian lawyer and politician (d. 1989)
  • 1917 – Fritz Honegger, Swiss lawyer and politician (d. 1999)
  • 1918 – Jane Frank, American painter and sculptor (d. 1986)
  • 1920 – Rosalind Franklin, English biophysicist, chemist, and academic (d. 1958)
  • 1921 – Adolph Herseth, American soldier and trumpet player (d. 2013)
  • 1921 – Lionel Terray, French mountaineer (d. 1965)
  • 1923 – Estelle Getty, American actress (d. 2008)
  • 1923 – Edgar Gilbert, American mathematician and theorist (d. 2013)
  • 1923 – Maria Gripe, Swedish journalist and author (d. 2007)
  • 1924 – Frank Church, American lawyer and politician (d. 1984)
  • 1924 – Scotch Taylor, South African cricketer and hockey player (d. 2004)
  • 1925 – Benny Benjamin, American R&B drummer (The Funk Brothers) (d. 1969)
  • 1925 – Jerry Paris, American actor and director (d. 1986)
  • 1925 – Dick Passwater, American race car driver
  • 1925 – Jutta Zilliacus, Finnish journalist and politician
  • 1926 – Whitey Lockman, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 2009)
  • 1926 – Bernard Thompson, British television producer and director (d. 1998)
  • 1926 – Beatriz Segall, Brazilian actress (d. 2018)
  • 1927 – Daniel Ceccaldi, French actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2003)
  • 1927 – Midge Decter, American journalist and author
  • 1927 – Sadiq Hussain Qureshi, Pakistani politician, 10th Governor of Punjab (d. 2000)
  • 1927 – Jean-Marie Seroney, Kenyan activist and politician (d. 1982)
  • 1928 – Dolphy, Filipino actor, singer, and producer (d. 2012)
  • 1928 – Mario Montenegro, Filipino actor (d. 1988)
  • 1928 – Nils Taube, Estonian-English businessman (d. 2008)
  • 1929 – Judd Buchanan, Canadian businessman and politician, 36th Canadian Minister of Public Works
  • 1929 – Somnath Chatterjee, Indian lawyer and politician, 14th Speaker of the Lok Sabha (d. 2018)
  • 1929 – Eddie Mazur, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1995)
  • 1930 – Murray Chapple, New Zealand cricketer and manager (d. 1985)
  • 1930 – Maureen Forrester, Canadian actress and singer (d. 2010)
  • 1930 – Alice Parizeau, Polish-Canadian journalist and criminologist (d. 1990)
  • 1930 – Herbert Scarf, American economist and academic (d. 2015)
  • 1930 – Annie Ross, Scottish-American singer and actress
  • 1931 – James Butler, English sculptor and educator
  • 1932 – Paul J. Weitz, American captain, pilot, and astronaut (d. 2017)
  • 1934 – Don Ellis, American trumpet player and composer (d. 1978)
  • 1934 – Claude Zidi, French director and screenwriter
  • 1935 – Barbara Harris, American actress and singer (d. 2018)
  • 1935 – Adnan Khashoggi, Saudi Arabian businessman (d. 2017)
  • 1935 – Gilbert Parent, Canadian educator and politician, 33rd Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada (d. 2009)
  • 1935 – John Robinson, American football player and coach
  • 1935 – Larry Sherry, American baseball player and coach (d. 2006)
  • 1935 – Lars Werner, Swedish lawyer and politician (d. 2013)
  • 1936 – Gerry Ashmore, English race car driver
  • 1936 – Glenn Murcutt, English-Australian architect and academic
  • 1937 – Colin Renfrew, Baron Renfrew of Kaimsthorn, English archaeologist and academic
  • 1940 – Richard Ballantine, American-English journalist and author (d. 2013)
  • 1941 – Manny Charlton, Spanish-born Scottish rock musician and songwriter
  • 1941 – Nate Thurmond, American basketball player (d. 2016)
  • 1941 – Emmett Till, American lynching victim (d. 1955)
  • 1942 – Bruce Woodley, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1943 – Jim McCarty, English singer and drummer
  • 1943 – Erika Steinbach, Polish-German politician
  • 1944 – Sally Beauman, English journalist and author (d. 2016)
  • 1946 – José Areas, Nicaraguan drummer
  • 1946 – Nicole Farhi, French fashion designer and sculptor
  • 1946 – John Gibson, American radio host
  • 1946 – Rita Marley, Cuban-Jamaican singer
  • 1946 – P. Selvarasa, Sri Lankan politician
  • 1946 – Ljupka Dimitrovska, Macedonian-Croatian pop singer (d. 2016)
  • 1948 – Steve Goodman, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1984)
  • 1950 – Mark Clarke, English singer-songwriter and bass player
  • 1951 – Jack Thompson, American lawyer and activist
  • 1951 – Verdine White, American bass player and producer
  • 1952 – Eduardo Souto de Moura, Portuguese architect, designed the Estádio Municipal de Braga
  • 1953 – Joseph A. Tunzi, Chicago based author, foremost expert on Elvis Presley
  • 1953 – Robert Zoellick, American banker and politician, 14th United States Deputy Secretary of State
  • 1954 – Ken Greer, Canadian guitarist, keyboard player, and producer
  • 1954 – Sheena McDonald, Scottish journalist
  • 1954 – Walter Payton, American football player and race car driver (d. 1999)
  • 1954 – Jochem Ziegert, German footballer and manager
  • 1955 – Iman, Somalian-English model and actress
  • 1955 – Randall Bewley, American guitarist and songwriter (d. 2009)
  • 1956 – Andy Goldsworthy, English-Scottish sculptor and photographer
  • 1956 – Frances Arnold, American scientist and engineer
  • 1957 – Mark Hunter, English politician
  • 1957 – Steve Podborski, Canadian skier
  • 1958 – Alexei Filippenko, American astrophysicist and academic
  • 1958 – Thurston Moore, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
  • 1959 – Fyodor Cherenkov, Russian footballer and manager (d. 2014)
  • 1959 – Geoffrey Zakarian, American chef and author
  • 1960 – Alain Robidoux, Canadian snooker player
  • 1960 – Justice Howard, American photographer
  • 1960 – Māris Martinsons, Latvian film director, producer, screenwriter, and editor
  • 1962 – Carin Bakkum, Dutch tennis player
  • 1962 – Doug Drabek, American baseball player and coach
  • 1963 – Denis Coderre, Canadian politician, 44th Mayor of Montreal
  • 1963 – Julian Hodgson, Welsh chess player
  • 1964 – Anne Applebaum, American journalist and author
  • 1964 – Tony Granato, American ice hockey player and coach
  • 1964 – Breuk Iversen, American designer and journalist
  • 1965 – Marty Brown, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1965 – Illeana Douglas, American actress, director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1965 – Dale Shearer, Australian rugby league player
  • 1966 – Daryl Halligan, New Zealand rugby player and sportscaster
  • 1966 – Maureen Herman, American bass player
  • 1966 – Diana Johnson, English politician
  • 1967 – Matt LeBlanc, American actor and producer
  • 1967 – Ruth Peetoom, Dutch minister and politician
  • 1967 – Tommy Skjerven, Norwegian footballer and referee
  • 1968 – Rudi Bryson, South African cricketer
  • 1968 – Shi Tao, Chinese journalist and poet
  • 1969 – Jon Barry, American basketball player and sportscaster
  • 1969 – Annastacia Palaszczuk, Australian politician, 39th Premier of Queensland
  • 1971 – Roger Creager, American singer-songwriter
  • 1971 – Tracy Murray, American basketball player
  • 1971 – Billy Wagner, American baseball player and coach
  • 1972 – David Penna, Australian rugby league player and coach
  • 1973 – Dani Filth, English singer-songwriter
  • 1973 – Kevin Phillips, English footballer
  • 1973 – Igli Tare, Albanian footballer
  • 1974 – Lauren Faust, American animator, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1974 – Julia Laffranque, Estonian lawyer and judge
  • 1974 – Kenzo Suzuki, Japanese rugby player and wrestler
  • 1975 – Jody Craddock, English footballer and coach
  • 1975 – Jean-Claude Darcheville, Guianan-French footballer
  • 1975 – El Zorro, Mexican wrestler
  • 1975 – Brian Gibson, American bass player
  • 1975 – Evgeni Nabokov, Russian ice hockey player
  • 1976 – Marcos Assunção, Brazilian footballer
  • 1976 – Jovica Tasevski-Eternijan, Macedonian poet and critic
  • 1976 – Javier Vázquez, Puerto Rican-American baseball player
  • 1977 – Kenny Thomas, American basketball player
  • 1978 – Gerard Warren, American football player
  • 1978 – Louise Brown, first human to be born via IVF
  • 1979 – Ali Carter, English snooker player
  • 1979 – Tom Lungley, English cricketer and umpire
  • 1980 – Shawn Riggans, American baseball player
  • 1980 – Toni Vilander, Finnish race car driver
  • 1980 – David Wachs, American actor and producer
  • 1980 – Scott Waldrom, New Zealand rugby player
  • 1981 – Conor Casey, American soccer player
  • 1981 – Constantinos Charalambidis, Cypriot footballer
  • 1981 – Yūichi Komano, Japanese footballer
  • 1981 – Mac Lethal, American rapper and producer
  • 1981 – Jani Rita, Finnish ice hockey player
  • 1982 – Brad Renfro, American actor and musician (d. 2008)
  • 1982 – Jason Dundas, Australian TV host
  • 1983 – Nenad Krstić, Serbian basketball player
  • 1984 – Loukas Mavrokefalidis, Greek basketball player
  • 1985 – James Lafferty, American actor and athlete
  • 1985 – Nelson Piquet Jr., Brazilian race car driver
  • 1985 – Hugo Rodallega, Colombian footballer
  • 1986 – Abraham Gneki Guié, Ivorian footballer
  • 1986 – Hulk, Brazilian footballer
  • 1987 – Richard Bachman, American ice hockey player
  • 1987 – Mitchell Burgzorg, Dutch footballer and rapper
  • 1987 – Fernando, Brazilian footballer
  • 1987 – Jax Jones, English DJ, singer and songwriter
  • 1987 – Eran Zahavi, Israeli footballer
  • 1988 – John Goossens, Dutch footballer
  • 1988 – Tom Hiariej, Dutch footballer
  • 1988 – Stacey Kemp, English skater
  • 1988 – Paulinho, Brazilian footballer
  • 1988 – Anthony Stokes, Irish footballer
  • 1989 – Natalia Vieru, Russian basketball player
  • 1990 – Thodoris Karapetsas, Greek footballer
  • 1991 – Toni Duggan, English footballer
  • 1992 – Sergei Simonov, Russian ice hockey player (d. 2016)
  • 1997 – Nat Butcher, Australian rugby league player

Deaths on July 25

  • 306 – Constantius Chlorus, Roman emperor (b. 250)
  • 885 – Ragenold, margrave of Neustria
  • 1011 – Ichijō, emperor of Japan (b. 980)
  • 1190 – Sibylla, queen of Jerusalem
  • 1409 – Martin I, king of Sicily (b. 1376)
  • 1471 – Thomas à Kempis, German priest and mystic
  • 1472 – Charles of Artois, French nobleman (b. 1394)
  • 1492 – Innocent VIII, pope of the Catholic Church (b. 1432)
  • 1564 – Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1503)
  • 1572 – Isaac Luria, Ottoman rabbi and mystic (b. 1534)
  • 1608 – Pomponio Nenna, Italian composer (b. 1556)
  • 1616 – Andreas Libavius, German physician and chemist (b. 1550)
  • 1643 – Robert Pierrepont, 1st Earl of Kingston-upon-Hull, English general and politician (b. 1584)
  • 1681 – Urian Oakes, English-American minister and educator (b. 1631)
  • 1790 – Johann Bernhard Basedow, German educator and reformer (b. 1723)
  • 1790 – William Livingston, American soldier and politician, 1st Governor of New Jersey (b. 1723)
  • 1791 – Isaac Low, American merchant and politician (b. 1735)
  • 1794 – André Chénier, Greek-French poet and author (b. 1762)
  • 1794 – Jean-Antoine Roucher, French poet and author (b. 1745)
  • 1794 – Friedrich von der Trenck, Prussian adventurer and author (b. 1726)
  • 1826 – Kondraty Ryleyev, Russian poet and publisher (b. 1795)
  • 1831 – Maria Szymanowska, Polish composer and pianist (b. 1789)
  • 1834 – Samuel Taylor Coleridge, English philosopher, poet, and critic (b. 1772)
  • 1842 – Dominique Jean Larrey, French physician and surgeon (b. 1766)
  • 1843 – Charles Macintosh, Scottish chemist and engineer (b. 1766)
  • 1861 – Jonas Furrer, Swiss lawyer and politician, President of the Swiss Confederation (b. 1805)
  • 1865 – James Barry, English soldier and surgeon (b. 1799)
  • 1887 – John Taylor, American religious leader, 3rd President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (b. 1808)
  • 1934 – François Coty, French businessman, founded Coty, Inc. (b. 1874)
  • 1934 – Engelbert Dollfuss, Austrian politician, 14th Chancellor of Austria (b. 1892)
  • 1942 – Fred Englehardt, American triple jumper (b. 1879)
  • 1952 – Herbert Murrill, English organist and composer (b. 1909)
  • 1958 – Otto Lasanen, Finnish wrestler (b. 1891)
  • 1959 – Yitzhak HaLevi Herzog, Polish-born Irish rabbi and author (b. 1888)
  • 1962 – Thibaudeau Rinfret, Canadian lawyer and jurist, 9th Chief Justice of Canada (b. 1879)
  • 1963 – Ugo Cerletti, Italian neurologist and academic (b. 1877)
  • 1966 – Frank O’Hara, American poet and critic (b. 1926)
  • 1967 – Konstantinos Parthenis, Egyptian-Greek painter (b. 1878)
  • 1971 – John Meyers, American swimmer and water polo player (b. 1880)
  • 1971 – Leroy Robertson, American composer and educator (b. 1896)
  • 1973 – Amy Jacques Garvey, Jamaican-American journalist and activist (b. 1895)
  • 1973 – Louis St. Laurent, Canadian lawyer and politician, 12th Prime Minister of Canada (b. 1882)
  • 1980 – Vladimir Vysotsky, Russian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (b. 1938)
  • 1981 – Rosa A. González, Puerto Rican nurse, author, feminist, and activist (b. 1889)
  • 1982 – Hal Foster, Canadian-American author and illustrator (b. 1892)
  • 1984 – Bryan Hextall, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1913)
  • 1984 – Big Mama Thornton, American singer-songwriter (b. 1926)
  • 1986 – Vincente Minnelli, American director and screenwriter (b. 1903)
  • 1988 – Judith Barsi, American child actress (b. 1978)
  • 1989 – Steve Rubell, American businessman, co-owner of Studio 54 (b. 1943)
  • 1991 – Lazar Kaganovich, Soviet politician (b. 1893)
  • 1992 – Alfred Drake, American actor and singer (b. 1914)
  • 1995 – Charlie Rich, American singer-songwriter (b. 1932)
  • 1997 – Ben Hogan, American golfer (b. 1912)
  • 1998 – Evangelos Papastratos, Greek businessman, co-founded Papastratos (b. 1910)
  • 2000 – Rudi Faßnacht, German footballer, coach, and manager (b. 1934)
  • 2002 – Abdel Rahman Badawi, Egyptian philosopher and poet (b. 1917)
  • 2003 – Ludwig Bölkow, German engineer (b. 1912)
  • 2003 – John Schlesinger, English actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1926)
  • 2004 – John Passmore, Australian philosopher and academic (b. 1914)
  • 2005 – Albert Mangelsdorff, German trombonist (b. 1928)
  • 2006 – Ezra Fleischer, Romanian-Israeli poet and philologist (b. 1928)
  • 2007 – Bernd Jakubowski, German footballer and manager (b. 1952)
  • 2008 – Jeff Fehring, Australian footballer (b. 1955)
  • 2008 – Tracy Hall, American chemist and academic (b. 1919)
  • 2008 – Randy Pausch, American computer scientist and educator (b. 1960)
  • 2009 – Vernon Forrest, American boxer (b. 1971)
  • 2009 – Stanley Middleton, English author (b. 1919)
  • 2009 – Harry Patch, English soldier (b. 1898)
  • 2011 – Michael Cacoyannis, Cypriot-Greek director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1922)
  • 2012 – B. R. Ishara, Indian director and screenwriter (b. 1934)
  • 2012 – Barry Langford, English director and producer (b. 1926)
  • 2012 – Greg Mohns, American-Canadian football player and coach (b. 1950)
  • 2012 – Franz West, Austrian painter and sculptor (b. 1947)
  • 2013 – Walter De Maria, American sculptor, illustrator, and composer (b. 1935)
  • 2013 – William J. Guste, American lawyer and politician (b. 1922)
  • 2013 – Hugh Huxley, English-American biologist and academic (b. 1924)
  • 2014 – Bel Kaufman, German-American author and academic (b. 1911)
  • 2014 – Richard Larter, Australian painter and illustrator (b. 1929)
  • 2015 – Jacques Andreani, French diplomat, French ambassador to the United States (b. 1929)
  • 2015 – R. S. Gavai, Indian lawyer and politician, 18th Governor of Kerala (b. 1929)
  • 2015 – Bob Kauffman, American basketball player and coach (b. 1946)
  • 2017 – Michael Johnson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1944)
  • 2018 – Sergio Marchionne, Italian-Canadian businessman(b. 1952)
  • 2019 – Beji Caid Essebsi , 4th President and 9th Prime Minister of Tunisia (b. 1926)

Holidays and observances on July 25

  • Christian feast day:
    • Anne (Eastern Christianity)
    • Christopher (Western Christianity)
    • Cucuphas
    • Glodesind
    • James the Great (Western Christianity)
    • John I Agnus
    • Julian of Le Mans (translation)
    • Magnerich of Trier
    • July 25 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Earliest day on which Father’s Day can fall, while July 31 is the latest; celebrated on last Sunday in July. (Dominican Republic)
  • Earliest day on which National Tree Planting Day can fall, while July 31 is the latest; celebrated on last Sunday in July. (Australia)
  • Earliest day on which Navy Day can fall, while July 31 is the latest; celebrated on last Sunday in July. (Russia)
  • Guanacaste Day (Costa Rica)
  • National Baha’i Day (Jamaica)
  • National Day of Galicia (Galicia)
  • Puerto Rico Constitution Day (Puerto Rico)
  • Republic Day (Tunisia)

July 25 – History, Events, Births, Deaths Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

July 18- History, Events, Births, Deaths Holidays and Observances On This Day

  • 477 BC – Battle of the Cremera as part of the Roman–Etruscan Wars. Veii ambushes and defeats the Roman army.
  • 387 BC– Roman-Gaulish Wars: Battle of the Allia: A Roman army is defeated by raiding Gauls, leading to the subsequent sacking of Rome.
  • 362 – Roman–Persian Wars: Emperor Julian arrives at Antioch with a Roman expeditionary force (60,000 men) and stays there for nine months to launch a campaign against the Persian Empire.
  • 452 – Sack of Aquileia: After an earlier defeat on the Catalaunian Plains, Attila lays siege to the metropolis of Aquileia and eventually destroys it.
  • 645 – Chinese forces under general Li Shiji besiege the strategic fortress city of Anshi (Liaoning) during the Goguryeo–Tang War.
  • 1195 – Battle of Alarcos: Almohad forces defeat the Castilian army of Alfonso VIII and force its retreat to Toledo.
  • 1290 – King Edward I of England issues the Edict of Expulsion, banishing all Jews (numbering about 16,000) from England; this was Tisha B’Av on the Hebrew calendar, a day that commemorates many Jewish calamities.
  • 1334 – The bishop of Florence blesses the first foundation stone for the new campanile (bell tower) of the Florence Cathedral, designed by the artist Giotto di Bondone.
  • 1389 – France and England agree to the Truce of Leulinghem, inaugurating a 13-year peace, the longest period of sustained peace during the Hundred Years’ War.
  • 1391 – Tokhtamysh–Timur war: Battle of the Kondurcha River: Timur defeats Tokhtamysh of the Golden Horde in present-day southeast Russia.
  • 1507 – In Brussels, Prince Charles I, is crowned Duke of Burgundy and Count of Flanders, a year after inheriting the title.
  • 1555 – The College of Arms is reincorporated by Royal charter signed by Queen Mary I of England and King Philip II of Spain.
  • 1806 – A gunpowder magazine explosion in Birgu, Malta, kills around 200 people.
  • 1812 – The Treaties of Orebro end both the Anglo-Russian and Anglo-Swedish Wars.
  • 1841 – Coronation of Emperor Pedro II of Brazil.
  • 1857 – Louis Faidherbe, French governor of Senegal, arrives to relieve French forces at Kayes, effectively ending El Hajj Umar Tall’s war against the French.
  • 1862 – First ascent of Dent Blanche, one of the highest summits in the Alps.
  • 1863 – American Civil War: Second Battle of Fort Wagner: One of the first formal African American military units, the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, supported by several white regiments, attempts an unsuccessful assault on Confederate-held Battery Wagner.
  • 1870 – The First Vatican Council decrees the dogma of papal infallibility.
  • 1872 – The Ballot Act 1872 in the United Kingdom introduced the requirement that parliamentary and local government elections be held by secret ballot.
  • 1914 – The U.S. Congress forms the Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps, giving official status to aircraft within the U.S. Army for the first time.
  • 1925 – Adolf Hitler publishes Mein Kampf.
  • 1936 – On the Spanish mainland, a faction of the army supported by fascists, rises up against the Second Spanish Republic in a coup d’etat starting the 3-year-long Civil War, resulting in the longest dictatorship in modern European history.
  • 1942 – World War II: During the Beisfjord massacre in Norway, 15 Norwegian paramilitary guards help members of the SS to kill 288 political prisoners from Yugoslavia.
  • 1942 – The Germans test fly the Messerschmitt Me 262 using its jet engines for the first time.
  • 1944 – World War II: Hideki Tōjō resigns as Prime Minister of Japan because of numerous setbacks in the war effort.
  • 1966 – Human spaceflight: Gemini 10 is launched from Cape Kennedy on a 70-hour mission that includes docking with an orbiting Agena target vehicle.
  • 1966 – A racially charged incident in a bar sparks the six-day Hough riots in Cleveland, Ohio; 1,700 Ohio National Guard troops intervene to restore order.
  • 1968 – Intel is founded in Mountain View, California.
  • 1976 – Nadia Comăneci becomes the first person in Olympic Games history to score a perfect 10 in gymnastics at the 1976 Summer Olympics.
  • 1982 – Two hundred sixty-eight Guatemalan campesinos (“peasants” or “country people”) are slain in the Plan de Sánchez massacre.
  • 1984 – McDonald’s massacre in San Ysidro, California: In a fast-food restaurant, James Oliver Huberty opens fire, killing 21 people and injuring 19 others before being shot dead by police.
  • 1992 – A picture of Les Horribles Cernettes was taken, which became the first ever photo posted to the World Wide Web.
  • 1994 – The bombing of the Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina (Argentine Jewish Community Center) in Buenos Aires kills 85 people (mostly Jewish) and injures 300.
  • 1994 – Rwandan genocide: The Rwandan Patriotic Front takes control of Gisenyi and north western Rwanda, forcing the interim government into Zaire and ending the genocide.
  • 1995 – On the Caribbean island of Montserrat, the Soufrière Hills volcano erupts. Over the course of several years, it devastates the island, destroying the capital, forcing most of the population to flee.
  • 1996 – Storms provoke severe flooding on the Saguenay River, beginning one of Quebec’s costliest natural disasters ever.
  • 1996 – Battle of Mullaitivu: The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam capture the Sri Lanka Army’s base, killing over 1200 soldiers.
  • 2012 – At least seven people are killed and 32 others are injured after a bomb explodes on an Israeli tour bus at Burgas Airport, Bulgaria.
  • 2013 – The Government of Detroit, with up to $20 billion in debt, files for the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history.
  • 2019 – A man sets fire to an anime studio in Fushimi-ku, Kyoto, Japan, killing at 35 people and injuring dozens of others.

Births on July 18

  • 1013 – Hermann of Reichenau, German composer, mathematician, and astronomer (b. 1013)
  • 1501 – Isabella of Austria, queen of Denmark (d. 1526)
  • 1504 – Heinrich Bullinger, Swiss pastor and reformer (d. 1575)
  • 1534 – Zacharius Ursinus, German theologian (d. 1583)
  • 1552 – Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor (d. 1612)
  • 1634 – Johannes Camphuys, Dutch politician, Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies (d. 1695)
  • 1659 – Hyacinthe Rigaud, French painter (d. 1743)
  • 1670 – Giovanni Bononcini, Italian cellist and composer (d. 1747)
  • 1702 – Maria Clementina Sobieska, Polish noble (d. 1735)
  • 1718 – Saverio Bettinelli, Italian poet, playwright, and critic (d. 1808)
  • 1720 – Gilbert White, English ornithologist and ecologist (d. 1793)
  • 1724 – Maria Antonia of Bavaria, Electress of Saxony (d. 1780)
  • 1750 – Frederick Adolf, duke of Östergötland (d. 1803)
  • 1796 – Immanuel Hermann Fichte, German philosopher and academic (d. 1879)
  • 1811 – William Makepeace Thackeray, English author and poet (d. 1863)
  • 1818 – Louis Gerhard De Geer, Swedish lawyer and politician, 1st Prime Minister of Sweden (d. 1896)
  • 1821 – Pauline Viardot, French soprano and composer (d. 1910)
  • 1837 – Vasil Levski, Bulgarian priest and activist (d. 1873)
  • 1843 – Virgil Earp, American marshal (d. 1905)
  • 1845 – Tristan Corbière, French poet (d. 1875)
  • 1848 – W. G. Grace, English cricketer and physician (d. 1915)
  • 1853 – Hendrik Lorentz, Dutch physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1928)
  • 1861 – Kadambini Ganguly, Indian physician, one of the first Indian women to obtain a degree (d. 1923)
  • 1864 – Philip Snowden, 1st Viscount Snowden, English politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (d. 1937)
  • 1867 – Margaret Brown, American philanthropist and activist (d. 1932)
  • 1871 – Giacomo Balla, Italian painter (d.1958)
  • 1871 – Sada Yacco, Japanese actress and dancer (d. 1946)
  • 1881 – Larry McLean, Canadian-American baseball player (d. 1921)
  • 1884 – Alberto di Jorio, Italian cardinal (d. 1979)
  • 1886 – Simon Bolivar Buckner Jr., American general (d. 1945)
  • 1887 – Vidkun Quisling, Norwegian military officer and politician, Minister President of Norway (d. 1945)
  • 1889 – Kōichi Kido, Japanese politician, 13th Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal of Japan (d. 1977)
  • 1890 – Frank Forde, Australian educator and politician, 15th Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1983)
  • 1892 – Arthur Friedenreich, Brazilian footballer (d. 1969)
  • 1893 – David Ogilvy, 12th Earl of Airlie, Scottish peer, soldier and courtier (d. 1968)
  • 1895 – Olga Spessivtseva, Russian-American ballerina (d. 1991)
  • 1895 – Machine Gun Kelly, American gangster (d. 1954)
  • 1897 – Ernest Eldridge, English race car driver and engineer (d. 1935)
  • 1898 – John Stuart, Scottish-English actor (d. 1979)
  • 1899 – Ernst Scheller, German soldier and politician, 8th Mayor of Marburg (d. 1942)
  • 1900 – Nathalie Sarraute, French lawyer and author (d. 1999)
  • 1902 – Jessamyn West, American author (d. 1984)
  • 1902 – Chill Wills, American actor (d. 1978)
  • 1905 – Robert Elton Brooker, American business executive (d. 2000)
  • 1906 – S. I. Hayakawa, Canadian-American academic and politician (d. 1992)
  • 1906 – Clifford Odets, American director, playwright, and screenwriter (d. 1963)
  • 1908 – Peace Pilgrim, American mystic and activist (d. 1981)
  • 1908 – Lupe Vélez, Mexican-American actress and dancer (d. 1944)
  • 1908 – Beatrice Aitchison, American mathematician, statistician, and transportation economist (d. 1997)
  • 1909 – Bishnu Dey, Indian poet, critic, and academic (d. 1982)
  • 1909 – Andrei Gromyko, Belarusian-Russian economist and politician, Soviet Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 1989)
  • 1909 – Mohammed Daoud Khan, Afghan commander and politician, 1st President of Afghanistan (d. 1978)
  • 1909 – Harriet Nelson, American singer and actress (d. 1994)
  • 1910 – Diptendu Pramanick, Indian businessman (d. 1989)
  • 1910 – Mamadou Dia, Senegalese politician; 1st Prime Minister of Senegal (d. 2009)
  • 1911 – Hume Cronyn, Canadian-American actor, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2003)
  • 1913 – Red Skelton, American actor and comedian (d. 1997)
  • 1914 – Gino Bartali, Italian cyclist (d. 2000)
  • 1914 – Oscar Heisserer, French footballer (d. 2004)
  • 1915 – Carequinha, Brazilian clown and actor (d. 2006)
  • 1915 – Roxana Cannon Arsht, American judge (d. 2003)
  • 1915 – Louis Le Bailly, British Royal Navy officer (d. 2010)
  • 1916 – Charles Kittel, American physicist (d. 2019)
  • 1917 – Henri Salvador, French singer and guitarist (d. 2008)
  • 1917 – Paul Streeten, Austrian-born British economics professor (d. 2019)
  • 1918 – Nelson Mandela, South African lawyer and politician, 1st President of South Africa, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2013)
  • 1919 – Lilia Dale, Italian actress
  • 1920 – Eric Brandon, English race car driver and businessman (d. 1982)
  • 1921 – Peter Austin, English brewer, founded Ringwood Brewery (d. 2014)
  • 1921 – Aaron T. Beck, American psychiatrist and academic
  • 1921 – John Glenn, American colonel, astronaut, and politician (d. 2016)
  • 1921 – Richard Leacock, English-French director and producer (d. 2011)
  • 1921 – Heinz Bennent, German actor (d. 2011)
  • 1922 – Thomas Kuhn, American physicist, historian, and philosopher (d. 1996)
  • 1923 – Jerome H. Lemelson, American engineer and businessman (d. 1997)
  • 1923 – Michael Medwin, English actor (d. 2020)
  • 1924 – Inge Sørensen, Danish swimmer (d. 2011)
  • 1924 – Tullio Altamura, Italian actor
  • 1925 – Shirley Strickland, Australian runner and hurdler (d. 2004)
  • 1925 – Friedrich Zimmermann, German lawyer and politician, German Federal Minister of the Interior (d. 2012)
  • 1925 – Raymond Jones, Australian Modernist architect
  • 1925 – Windy McCall, American baseball relief pitcher (d. 2015)
  • 1926 – Margaret Laurence, Canadian author and academic (d. 1987)
  • 1926 – Nita Bieber, American actress (d. 2019)
  • 1926 – Bernard Pons, French politician and medical doctor
  • 1926 – Maunu Kurkvaara, Finnish film director and screenwriter
  • 1927 – Mehdi Hassan, Pakistani ghazal singer and playback singer (d. 2012)
  • 1927 – Kurt Masur, German conductor and educator (d. 2015)
  • 1927 – Antonio García-Trevijano, Spanish republican, political activist, and author (d. 2018)
  • 1927 – Keith MacDonald, Canadian politician
  • 1927 – Anthony Mirra, American gangster, member of the Bonanno Crime Family (d. 1982)
  • 1928 – Andrea Gallo, Italian priest and author (d. 2013)
  • 1928 – Baddiewinkle, American internet personality
  • 1929 – Dick Button, American figure skater and actor
  • 1929 – Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, American R&B singer-songwriter, musician, and actor (d. 2000)
  • 1932 – Robert Ellis Miller, American director and screenwriter (d. 2017)
  • 1933 – Jean Yanne, French actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2003)
  • 1933 – Yevgeny Yevtushenko, Russian poet and playwright (d. 2017)
  • 1934 – Edward Bond, English director, playwright, and screenwriter
  • 1934 – Darlene Conley, American actress (d. 2007)
  • 1935 – Tenley Albright, American figure skater and physician
  • 1935 – Jayendra Saraswathi, Indian guru, 69th Shankaracharya
  • 1937 – Roald Hoffmann, Polish chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1937 – Hunter S. Thompson, American journalist and author (d. 2005)
  • 1938 – John Connelly, English footballer (d. 2012)
  • 1938 – Ian Stewart, Scottish keyboard player and manager (d. 1985)
  • 1938 – Paul Verhoeven, Dutch director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1939 – Brian Auger, English rock and jazz keyboard player
  • 1939 – Dion DiMucci, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1939 – Jerry Moore, American football player and coach
  • 1940 – James Brolin, American actor
  • 1940 – Joe Torre, American baseball player and manager
  • 1941 – Frank Farian, German songwriter and producer
  • 1941 – Lonnie Mack, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2016)
  • 1941 – Martha Reeves, American singer and politician
  • 1942 – Giacinto Facchetti, Italian footballer (d. 2006)
  • 1942 – Adolf Ogi, Swiss politician, 84th President of the Swiss Confederation
  • 1943 – Joseph J. Ellis, American historian and author
  • 1944 – David Hemery, English hurdler and author
  • 1945 – Pat Doherty, Irish Republican politician
  • 1946 – Kalpana Mohan, Indian actress
  • 1946 – John Naughton, Scottish-Irish journalist, author, and academic
  • 1947 – Steve Forbes, American publisher and politician
  • 1948 – Carlos Colón Sr., Puerto Rican-American wrestler and promoter
  • 1948 – Jeanne Córdova, American journalist and activist (d. 2016)
  • 1948 – Graham Spanier, 16th President of Pennsylvania State University
  • 1948 – Hartmut Michel, German biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1949 – Dennis Lillee, Australian cricketer and coach
  • 1950 – Richard Branson, English businessman, founded Virgin Group
  • 1950 – Jack Dongarra, American computer scientist and academic
  • 1950 – Kostas Eleftherakis, Greek footballer
  • 1950 – Glenn Hughes, American disco singer (Village People) and actor (d. 2001)
  • 1950 – Jack Layton, Canadian political scientist, academic, and politician (d. 2011)
  • 1950 – Mark Udall, American educator and politician
  • 1951 – Elio Di Rupo, Belgian chemist, academic, and politician, 68th Prime Minister of Belgium
  • 1951 – Margo Martindale, American actress
  • 1954 – Ricky Skaggs, American singer-songwriter, mandolin player, and producer
  • 1955 – Bernd Fasching, Austrian painter and sculptor
  • 1957 – Nick Faldo, English golfer and sportscaster
  • 1957 – Keith Levene, English guitarist, songwriter, and producer
  • 1960 – Simon Heffer, English journalist and author
  • 1961 – Elizabeth McGovern, American actress
  • 1961 – Alan Pardew, English footballer and manager
  • 1961 – Pasi Rautiainen, Finnish footballer, coach, and manager
  • 1962 – Shaun Micallef, Australian comedian, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1963 – Marc Girardelli, Austrian-Luxembourgian skier
  • 1963 – Martín Torrijos, Panamanian economist and politician, 35th President of Panama
  • 1964 – Wendy Williams, American talk show host
  • 1965 – Vesselina Kasarova, Bulgarian soprano
  • 1966 – Dan O’Brien, American decathlete and coach
  • 1967 – Vin Diesel, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter1968 – Grant Bowler, New Zealand-Australian actor
  • 1968 – Scott Gourley, Australian rugby player
  • 1969 – Elizabeth Gilbert, American author
  • 1969 – The Great Sasuke, Japanese wrestler and politician
  • 1971 – Penny Hardaway, American basketball player and coach
  • 1971 – Sukhwinder Singh, Indian singer-songwriter and actor
  • 1974 – Alan Morrison, British poet
  • 1975 – Torii Hunter, American baseball player
  • 1975 – Daron Malakian, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
  • 1975 – M.I.A., English rapper and producer5
  • 1976 – Elsa Pataky, Spanish actress
  • 1976 – Go Soo-hee, South Korean actress
  • 1977 – Alexander Morozevich, Russian chess player and author
  • 1978 – Adabel Guerrero, Argentinian actress, singer, and dancer
  • 1978 – Shane Horgan, Irish rugby player and sportscaster
  • 1978 – Crystal Mangum, American murderer responsible for making false rape allegations in the Duke lacrosse case
  • 1978 – Joo Sang-wook, South Korean actor
  • 1978 – Ben Sheets, American baseball player and coach
  • 1978 – Mélissa Theuriau, French journalist
  • 1979 – Deion Branch, American football player
  • 1979 – Joey Mercury, American wrestler and producer
  • 1980 – Kristen Bell, American actress
  • 1981 – Dennis Seidenberg, German ice hockey player
  • 1982 – Ryan Cabrera, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1982 – Priyanka Chopra, Indian actress, singer, and film producer
  • 1982 – Carlo Costly, Honduran footballer
  • 1983 – Carlos Diogo, Uruguayan footballer
  • 1983 – Aaron Gillespie, American singer-songwriter and drummer
  • 1983 – Mikk Pahapill, Estonian decathlete
  • 1983 – Jan Schlaudraff, German footballer
  • 1985 – Chace Crawford, American actor
  • 1985 – Panagiotis Lagos, Greek footballer
  • 1985 – James Norton, English actor
  • 1986 – Natalia Mikhailova, Russian ice dancer
  • 1987 – Tontowi Ahmad, Indonesian badminton player
  • 1988 – Änis Ben-Hatira, German-Tunisian footballer
  • 1988 – César Villaluz, Mexican footballer
  • 1989 – Jamie Benn, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1989 – Sebastian Mielitz, German footballer
  • 1989 – Yohan Mollo, French footballer
  • 1993 – Lee Tae-min, South Korean singer and actor
  • 1993 – Michael Lichaa, Australian rugby league player
  • 1994 – Nilo Soares, East Timorese footballer
  • 1997 – Noah Lyles, American sprinter
  • 2001 – Agustina Roth, Argentine BMX rider

Deaths on July 18

  • 707 – Emperor Monmu of Japan (b. 683)
  • 715 – Muhammad bin Qasim, Umayyad general (b. 695)
  • 912 – Zhu Wen, Chinese emperor (b. 852)
  • 924 – Abu’l-Hasan Ali ibn al-Furat, Abbasid vizier (b. 855)
  • 928 – Stephen II, patriarch of Constantinople
  • 984 – Dietrich I, bishop of Metz
  • 1100 – Godfrey of Bouillon, Frankish knight (b. 1016)
  • 1185 – Stefan, first Archbishop of Uppsala (b. before 1143)
  • 1194 – Guy of Lusignan, king consort of Jerusalem (b. c. 1150)
  • 1232 – John de Braose, Marcher Lord of Bramber and Gower
  • 1270 – Boniface of Savoy, Archbishop of Canterbury
  • 1300 – Gerard Segarelli, Italian religious leader, founded the Apostolic Brethren (b. 1240)
  • 1450 – Francis I, Duke of Brittany (b. 1414)
  • 1488 – Alvise Cadamosto, Italian explorer (b. 1432)
  • 1566 – Bartolomé de las Casas, Spanish bishop and historian (b. 1484)
  • 1591 – Jacobus Gallus, Slovenian composer (b. 1550)
  • 1608 – Joachim Frederick, Elector of Brandenburg (b. 1546)
  • 1610 – Caravaggio, Italian painter (b. 1571)
  • 1639 – Bernard of Saxe-Weimar, German general (b. 1604)
  • 1650 – Robert Levinz, English Royalist, hanged in London by Parliamentary forces as a spy (b. 1615)
  • 1695 – Johannes Camphuys, Dutch politician, Governor-General of the Dutch East Indies (b. 1634)
  • 1698 – Johann Heinrich Heidegger, Swiss theologian and author (b. 1633)
  • 1721 – Jean-Antoine Watteau, French painter (b. 1684)
  • 1730 – François de Neufville, duc de Villeroy, French general (b. 1644)
  • 1756 – Pieter Langendijk, Dutch poet and playwright (b. 1683)
  • 1792 – John Paul Jones, Scottish-American admiral and diplomat (b. 1747)
  • 1817 – Jane Austen, English novelist (b. 1775)
  • 1837 – Vincenzo Borg, Maltese merchant and rebel leader (b. 1777)
  • 1863 – Robert Gould Shaw, American colonel (b. 1837)
  • 1872 – Benito Juárez, Mexican lawyer and politician, 26th President of Mexico (b. 1806)
  • 1884 – Ferdinand von Hochstetter, Austrian geologist and academic (b. 1829)
  • 1887 – Dorothea Dix, American social reformer and activist (b. 1802)
  • 1890 – Lydia Becker, English journalist, author, and activist, co-founded the Women’s Suffrage Journal (b. 1827)
  • 1892 – Thomas Cook, English travel agent, founded the Thomas Cook Group (b. 1808)
  • 1899 – Horatio Alger, American novelist and journalist (b. 1832)
  • 1916 – Benjamin C. Truman, American journalist and author (b. 1835)
  • 1925 – Louis-Nazaire Bégin, Canadian cardinal (b. 1840)
  • 1932 – Jean Jules Jusserand, French author and diplomat, French Ambassador to the United States (b. 1855)
  • 1937 – Julian Bell, English poet and academic (b. 1908)
  • 1938 – Marie of Romania (b. 1875)
  • 1944 – Thomas Sturge Moore, English author, poet, and playwright (b. 1870)
  • 1947 – Evald Tipner, Estonian footballer and ice hockey player (b. 1906)
  • 1948 – Herman Gummerus, Finnish historian, academic, and politician (b. 1877)
  • 1949 – Vítězslav Novák, Czech composer and educator (b. 1870)
  • 1949 – Francisco Javier Arana, Guatemalan Army colonel and briefly Guatemalan head of state (b.1905)
  • 1950 – Carl Clinton Van Doren, American critic and biographer (b. 1885)
  • 1952 – Paul Saintenoy, Belgian architect and historian (b. 1862)
  • 1954 – Machine Gun Kelly, American gangster (b. 1895)
  • 1966 – Bobby Fuller, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1942)
  • 1968 – Corneille Heymans, Belgian physiologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1892)
  • 1969 – Mary Jo Kopechne, American educator and secretary (b. 1940)
  • 1973 – Jack Hawkins, English actor (b. 1910)
  • 1975 – Vaughn Bodē, American illustrator (b. 1941)
  • 1981 – Sonja Branting-Westerståhl, Swedish lawyer (b. 1890)
  • 1982 – Roman Jakobson, Russian–American linguist and theorist (b. 1896)
  • 1984 – Lally Bowers, English actress (b. 1914)
  • 1984 – Grigori Kromanov, Estonian director and screenwriter (b. 1926)
  • 1987 – Gilberto Freyre, Brazilian sociologist, anthropologist, historian, writer, painter, journalist and congressman (b. 1907)
  • 1988 – Nico, German singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and actress (b. 1938)
  • 1988 – Joly Braga Santos, Portuguese composer and conductor (b. 1924)
  • 1989 – Donnie Moore, American baseball player (b. 1954)
  • 1989 – Rebecca Schaeffer, American model and actress (b.1967)
  • 1990 – Karl Menninger, American psychiatrist and author (b. 1896)
  • 1990 – Yun Posun, South Korean politician, 2nd President of South Korea (b. 1897)
  • 2001 – Mimi Fariña, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1945)
  • 2002 – Metin Toker, Turkish journalist and author (b. 1924)
  • 2004 – André Castelot, Belgian-French historian and author (b. 1911)
  • 2004 – Émile Peynaud, French wine maker (b. 1912)
  • 2005 – Amy Gillett, Australian cyclist and rower (b. 1976)
  • 2005 – William Westmoreland, American general (b. 1914)
  • 2006 – Henry Hewes, American theater writer (b. 1917)
  • 2007 – Jerry Hadley, American tenor (b. 1952)
  • 2007 – Kenji Miyamoto, Japanese politician (b. 1908)
  • 2009 – Henry Allingham, English soldier (b. 1896)
  • 2009 – Jill Balcon, English actress (b. 1925)
  • 2012 – Yosef Shalom Eliashiv, Lithuanian-Israeli rabbi and author (b. 1910)
  • 2012 – Jean François-Poncet, French politician and diplomat, French Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1928)
  • 2012 – Dawoud Rajiha, Syrian general and politician, Syrian Minister of Defense (b. 1947)
  • 2012 – Assef Shawkat, Syrian general and politician (b. 1950)
  • 2012 – Hasan Turkmani, Syrian general and politician, Syrian Minister of Defense (b. 1935)
  • 2012 – Rajesh Khanna, Indian actor (b. 1942)
  • 2013 – Vaali, Indian poet, songwriter, and actor (b. 1931)
  • 2013 – Olivier Ameisen, French-American cardiologist and academic (b. 1953)
  • 2014 – Andreas Biermann, German footballer (b. 1980)
  • 2014 – João Ubaldo Ribeiro, Brazilian journalist, author, and academic (b. 1941)
  • 2014 – Dietmar Schönherr, Austrian-Spanish actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1926)
  • 2015 – Alex Rocco, American actor (b. 1936)
  • 2018 – Jonathan Gold, American food critic (b. 1960)
  • 2018 – Adrian Cronauer, American Radio personality (b. 1938)

Holidays and observances on July 18

  • Christian feast day:
    • Arnulf of Metz
    • Bartolomé de las Casas (Episcopal Church (USA))
    • Bruno of Segni
    • Camillus de Lellis (optional memorial, United States only)
    • Eadburh (or Edburga) of Bicester
    • Elizabeth Ferard (Church of England)
    • Frederick of Utrecht
    • Goneri of Brittany
    • Gundenis
    • Marina of Aguas Santas
    • Maternus of Milan
    • Minnborinus of Cologne
    • Pambo
    • Philastrius (or Filaster)
    • Symphorosa
    • Teneu (or Theneva)
    • Theodosia of Constantinople
    • July 18 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Constitution Day (Uruguay)
  • Nelson Mandela International Day

July 18- History, Events, Births, Deaths Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

July 16 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

  • 622 – The beginning of the Islamic calendar.
  • 997 – Battle of Spercheios: Bulgarian forces of Tsar Samuel are defeated by a Byzantine army under general Nikephoros Ouranos at the Spercheios River in Greece.
  • 1054 – Three Roman legates break relations between Western and Eastern Christian Churches through the act of placing an invalidly-issued Papal bull of Excommunication on the altar of Hagia Sophia during Saturday afternoon divine liturgy. Historians frequently describe the event as the start of the East–West Schism.
  • 1212 – Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa: After Pope Innocent III calls European knights to a crusade, forces of Kings Alfonso VIII of Castile, Sancho VII of Navarre, Peter II of Aragon and Afonso II of Portugal defeat those of the Berber Muslim leader Almohad, thus marking a significant turning point in the Reconquista and in the medieval history of Spain.
  • 1232 – The Spanish town of Arjona declares independence and names its native Muhammad ibn Yusuf as ruler. This marks Muhammad’s first rise to prominence; he would later establish the Nasrid Emirate of Granada, the last independent Muslim state in Spain.
  • 1251 – Celebrated by the Carmelite Order – but doubted by modern historians – as the day when Saint Simon Stock had a vision of the Virgin Mary
  • 1377 – King Richard II of England is crowned.
  • 1661 – The first banknotes in Europe are issued by the Swedish bank Stockholms Banco.
  • 1683 – Manchu Qing dynasty naval forces under traitorous commander Shi Lang defeat the Kingdom of Tungning in the Battle of Penghu near the Pescadores Islands.
  • 1769 – Father Junípero Serra founds California’s first mission, Mission San Diego de Alcalá. Over the following decades, it evolves into the city of San Diego, California.
  • 1779 – American Revolutionary War: Light infantry of the Continental Army seize a fortified British Army position in a midnight bayonet attack at the Battle of Stony Point.
  • 1790 – The District of Columbia is established as the capital of the United States after signature of the Residence Act.
  • 1809 – The city of La Paz, in what is today Bolivia, declares its independence from the Spanish Crown during the La Paz revolution and forms the Junta Tuitiva, the first independent government in Spanish America, led by Pedro Domingo Murillo.
  • 1849 – Antonio María Claret y Clará founds the Congregation of the Missionary Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, popularly known as the Claretians in Vic, in the province of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.
  • 1861 – American Civil War: At the order of President Abraham Lincoln, Union troops begin a 25-mile march into Virginia for what will become the First Battle of Bull Run, the first major land battle of the war.
  • 1862 – American Civil War: David Farragut is promoted to rear admiral, becoming the first officer in United States Navy to hold an admiral rank.
  • 1909 – Persian Constitutional Revolution: Mohammad Ali Shah Qajar is forced out as Shah of Persia and is replaced by his son Ahmad Shah Qajar.
  • 1910 – John Robertson Duigan makes the first flight of the Duigan pusher biplane, the first aircraft built in Australia.
  • 1915 – Henry James becomes a British citizen to highlight his commitment to Britain during the first World War.
  • 1915 – At Treasure Island on the Delaware River in the United States, the First Order of the Arrow ceremony takes place and the Order of the Arrow is founded to honor American Boy Scouts who best exemplify the Scout Oath and Law.
  • 1927 – Augusto César Sandino leads a raid on U.S. Marines and Nicaraguan Guardia Nacional that had been sent to apprehend him in the village of Ocotal, but is repulsed by one of the first dive-bombing attacks in history.
  • 1931 – Emperor Haile Selassie signs the first constitution of Ethiopia.
  • 1935 – The world’s first parking meter is installed in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
  • 1941 – Joe DiMaggio hits safely for the 56th consecutive game, a streak that still stands as an MLB record.
  • 1942 – Holocaust: Vel’ d’Hiv Roundup (Rafle du Vel’ d’Hiv): The government of Vichy France orders the mass arrest of 13,152 Jews who are held at the Vélodrome d’Hiver in Paris before deportation to Auschwitz.
  • 1945 – World War II: The heavy cruiser USS Indianapolis leaves San Francisco with parts for the atomic bomb “Little Boy” bound for Tinian Island.
  • 1945 – Manhattan Project: The Atomic Age begins when the United States successfully detonates a plutonium-based test nuclear weapon near Alamogordo, New Mexico.
  • 1948 – Following token resistance, the city of Nazareth, revered by Christians as the hometown of Jesus, capitulates to Israeli troops during Operation Dekel in the 1948 Arab–Israeli War.
  • 1948 – The storming of the cockpit of the Miss Macao passenger seaplane, operated by a subsidiary of the Cathay Pacific Airways, marks the first aircraft hijacking of a commercial plane.
  • 1950 – Chaplain–Medic massacre: American POWs are massacred by North Korean Army.
  • 1951 – King Leopold III of Belgium abdicates in favor of his son, Baudouin I of Belgium.
  • 1956 – Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus closes its last “Big Tent” show in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; due to changing economics, all subsequent circus shows will be held in arenas.
  • 1965 – The Mont Blanc Tunnel linking France and Italy opens.
  • 1965 – South Vietnamese Colonel Phạm Ngọc Thảo, a formerly undetected communist spy and double agent, is hunted down and killed by unknown individuals after being sentenced to death in absentia for a February 1965 coup attempt against Nguyễn Khánh.
  • 1969 – Apollo program: Apollo 11, the first mission to land astronauts on the Moon, is launched from the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Kennedy, Florida.
  • 1979 – Iraqi President Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr resigns and is replaced by Saddam Hussein.
  • 1983 – Sikorsky S-61 disaster: A helicopter crashes off the Isles of Scilly, causing 20 fatalities.
  • 1990 – The Luzon earthquake strikes the Philippines with an intensity of 7.7, affecting Benguet, Pangasinan, Nueva Ecija, La Union, Aurora, Bataan, Zambales and Tarlac.
  • 1990 – The Parliament of the Ukrainian SSR declares state sovereignty over the territory of the Ukrainian SSR.
  • 1999 – John F. Kennedy Jr., his wife, Carolyn, and her sister, Lauren Bessette, died when the Piper Saratoga PA-32R aircraft he was piloting crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard.
  • 2004 – Millennium Park, considered Chicago’s first and most ambitious early 21st-century architectural project, is opened to the public by Mayor Richard M. Daley.
  • 2007 – An earthquake of magnitude 6.8 and 6.6 aftershock occurs off the Niigata coast of Japan killing eight people, injuring at least 800 and damaging a nuclear power plant.
  • 2013 – As many as 27 children die and 25 others are hospitalized after eating lunch served at their school in eastern India.
  • 2015 – Four U.S. Marines and one gunman die in a shooting spree targeting military installations in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
  • 2019 – 100 years old building in Mumbai, India, collapsed, killing at least 10 people and many remaining trapped.

Births on July 16

  • 1194 – Clare of Assisi, an Italian nun and saint (d. 1253)
  • 1486 – Andrea del Sarto, Italian painter (d. 1530)
  • 1517 – Frances Grey, Duchess of Suffolk, English duchess (d. 1559)
  • 1529 – Petrus Peckius the Elder, Dutch jurist, writer on international maritime law (d. 1589)
  • 1611 – Cecilia Renata of Austria (d. 1644)
  • 1661 – Pierre Le Moyne d’Iberville, Canadian captain, explorer, and politician (d. 1706)
  • 1714 – Marc René, marquis de Montalembert, French engineer and author (d. 1800)
  • 1722 – Joseph Wilton, English sculptor and academic (d. 1803)
  • 1723 – Joshua Reynolds, English painter and academic (d. 1792)
  • 1731 – Samuel Huntington, American jurist and politician, 18th Governor of Connecticut (d. 1796)
  • 1749 – Cyrus Griffin, American lawyer, judge, and politician, 16th President of the Continental Congress (d. 1810)
  • 1796 – Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, French painter and etcher (d. 1875)
  • 1821 – Mary Baker Eddy, American religious leader and author, founded Christian Science (d. 1910)
  • 1841 – Nikolai von Glehn, Estonian-German architect and activist (d. 1923)
  • 1858 – Eugène Ysaÿe, Belgian violinist, composer, and conductor (d. 1931)
  • 1862 – Ida B. Wells, American journalist and activist (d. 1931)
  • 1863 – Anderson Dawson, Australian politician, 14th Premier of Queensland (d. 1910)
  • 1870 – Lambert McKenna, Irish priest, lexicographer, and scholar (d. 1956)
  • 1871 – John Maxwell, American golfer (d. 1906)
  • 1872 – Roald Amundsen, Norwegian pilot and explorer (d. 1928)
  • 1872 – Frank Cooper, Australian politician, 25th Premier of Queensland (d. 1949)
  • 1880 – Kathleen Norris, American journalist and author (d. 1966)
  • 1882 – Violette Neatley Anderson, American judge (d. 1937)
  • 1883 – Charles Sheeler, American photographer and painter (d. 1965)
  • 1884 – Anna Vyrubova, Russian author (d. 1964)
  • 1887 – Shoeless Joe Jackson, American baseball player and manager (d. 1951)
  • 1888 – Percy Kilbride, American actor (d. 1964)
  • 1888 – Frits Zernike, Dutch physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1966)
  • 1889 – Arthur Bowie Chrisman, American author (d. 1953)
  • 1895 – Wilfrid Hamel, Canadian businessman and politician, 35th Mayor of Quebec City (d. 1968)
  • 1896 – Otmar Freiherr von Verschuer, German biologist and eugenicist (d. 1969)
  • 1896 – Trygve Lie, Norwegian trade union leader and politician, 1st Secretary-General of the United Nations (d. 1968)
  • 1902 – Alexander Luria, Russian psychologist and physician (d. 1977)
  • 1902 – Mary Philbin, American actress (d. 1993)
  • 1903 – Fritz Bauer, German lawyer and judge (d. 1968)
  • 1903 – Carmen Lombardo, Canadian singer-songwriter (d. 1971)
  • 1903 – Irmgard Flügge-Lotz, German mathematician and engineer (d. 1974)
  • 1904 – Goffredo Petrassi, Italian composer and conductor (d. 2003)
  • 1906 – Vincent Sherman, American actor, director, and screenwriter (d. 2006)
  • 1907 – Frances Horwich, American educator and television host (d. 2001)
  • 1907 – Orville Redenbacher, American farmer and businessman, founded Orville Redenbacher’s (d. 1995)
  • 1907 – Barbara Stanwyck, American actress (d. 1990)
  • 1910 – Stan McCabe, Australian cricketer (d. 1968)
  • 1910 – Gordon Prange, American historian, author, and academic (d. 1980)
  • 1911 – Ginger Rogers, American actress, singer, and dancer (d. 1995)
  • 1911 – Sonny Tufts, American actor (d. 1970)
  • 1912 – Milt Bocek, American baseball player (d. 2007)
  • 1912 – Amy Patterson, Argentine composer, singer, poet, and teacher (d. 2019)
  • 1915 – Barnard Hughes, American actor (d. 2006)
  • 1915 – Elaine Barrie, American actress (d. 2003)
  • 1918 – Denis Edward Arnold, English soldier (d. 2015)
  • 1918 – Paul Farnes, famed World War II Royal Air Force (RAF) fighter pilot and one of “The Few” surviving pilots of the Battle of Britain (d. 2020)
  • 1918 – Samuel Victor Perry, English biochemist and rugby player (d. 2009)
  • 1919 – Hermine Braunsteiner, Austrian SS officer (d. 1999)
  • 1919 – Choi Kyu-hah, South Korean politician, 4th President of South Korea (d. 2006)
  • 1920 – Anatole Broyard, American critic and editor (d. 1990)
  • 1923 – Chris Argyris, American psychologist, theorist, and academic (d. 2013)
  • 1923 – Bola Sete, Brazilian guitarist (d. 1987)
  • 1924 – James L. Greenfield, American journalist and politician
  • 1924 – Bess Myerson, American model, actress, game show panelist, and politician, Miss America 1945 (d. 2014)
  • 1924 – Rupert Deese, Northern Mariana Islander ceramic artist (d. 2010)
  • 1925 – Frank Jobe, American sergeant and surgeon (d. 2014)
  • 1925 – Rosita Quintana, Argentine actress
  • 1925 – Cal Tjader, American jazz musician (d. 1982)
  • 1926 – Ivica Horvat, Croatian footballer and manager (d. 2012)
  • 1926 – Irwin Rose, American biologist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2015)
  • 1927 – Pierre F. Côté, Canadian lawyer and civil servant (d. 2013)
  • 1927 – Shirley Hughes, English author and illustrator
  • 1927 – Derek Hawksworth, English footballer
  • 1928 – Anita Brookner, English novelist and art historian (d. 2016)
  • 1928 – Bella Davidovich, Soviet-American pianist
  • 1928 – Robert Sheckley, American author and screenwriter (d. 2005)
  • 1928 – Jim Rathmann, American race car driver (d. 2011)
  • 1928 – Dave Treen, American lawyer and politician, 51st Governor of Louisiana (d. 2009)
  • 1928 – Andrzej Zawada, Polish mountaineer and author (d. 2000)
  • 1929 – Charles Ray Hatcher, American serial killer (d. 1984)
  • 1929 – Sheri S. Tepper, American author and poet (d. 2016)
  • 1929 – Gaby Tanguy, French swimmer
  • 1930 – Guy Béart, Egyptian-French singer-songwriter (d. 2015)
  • 1930 – Michael Bilirakis, American lawyer and politician
  • 1930 – Bert Rechichar, American football defensive back and kicker (d. 2019)
  • 1931 – Fergus Gordon Kerr, Scottish Roman Catholic priest of the English Dominican Province
  • 1931 – Norm Sherry, American former catcher, manager, and coach in Major League Baseball
  • 1932 – John Chilton, English trumpet player and composer (d. 2016)
  • 1932 – Max McGee, American football player and sportscaster (d. 2007)
  • 1932 – Dick Thornburgh, American lawyer and politician, 76th United States Attorney General
  • 1933 – Julian A. Brodsky, American businessman
  • 1934 – Tomás Eloy Martínez, Argentine journalist (d. 2010)
  • 1934 – Katherine D. Ortega, 38th Treasurer of the United States
  • 1934 – Donald M. Payne, American educator and politician (d. 2012)
  • 1935 – Carl Epting Mundy Jr., American general (d. 2014)
  • 1935 – Lynn Wyatt, American socialite and philanthropist
  • 1936 – Yasuo Fukuda, Japanese politician, 91st Prime Minister of Japan
  • 1936 – Buddy Merrill, American guitarist
  • 1936 – Jerry Norman, American sinologist and linguist (d. 2012)
  • 1936 – Venkataraman Subramanya, Indian-Australian cricketer
  • 1937 – Richard Bryan, American lawyer and politician, 25th Governor of Nevada
  • 1937 – John Daly, English director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2008)
  • 1938 – Cynthia Enloe, American author and academic
  • 1938 – Tony Jackson, English singer and bass player (d. 2003)
  • 1939 – William Bell, American singer-songwriter
  • 1939 – Lido Vieri, Italian football manager and football player
  • 1939 – Denise LaSalle, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2018)
  • 1939 – Ruth Perry, president of Liberia (d. 2017)
  • 1939 – Shringar Nagaraj, Indian actor and producer (d. 2013)
  • 1939 – Corin Redgrave, English actor and activist (d. 2010)
  • 1939 – Mariele Ventre, Italian singer and conductor (d. 1995)
  • 1941 – Desmond Dekker, Jamaican singer-songwriter (d. 2006)
  • 1941 – Dag Solstad, Norwegian author and playwright
  • 1941 – Hans Wiegel, Dutch journalist and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands
  • 1941 – Sir George Young, 6th Baronet, English banker and politician, Secretary of State for Transport
  • 1942 – Margaret Court, Australian tennis player and minister
  • 1943 – Reinaldo Arenas, Cuban-American author, poet, and playwright (d. 1990)
  • 1943 – Vernon Bogdanor, English political scientist and academic
  • 1943 – Jimmy Johnson, American football player and coach
  • 1944 – Angharad Rees, English-Welsh actress and jewellery designer (d. 2012)
  • 1946 – Louise Fréchette, Canadian civil servant and diplomat, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations
  • 1946 – Barbara Lee, American politician
  • 1946 – Ron Yary, American football player
  • 1947 – Don Burke, Australian television host and producer
  • 1947 – Alexis Herman, American businesswoman and politician, 23rd United States Secretary of Labor
  • 1947 – Assata Shakur, American-Cuban criminal and activist
  • 1948 – Rubén Blades, Panamanian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor
  • 1948 – Lars Lagerbäck, Swedish footballer and manager
  • 1948 – Kevin McKenzie, South African cricketer
  • 1948 – Pinchas Zukerman, Israeli violinist and conductor
  • 1949 – Alan Fitzgerald, American guitarist and keyboardist
  • 1950 – Pierre Paradis, Canadian lawyer and politician
  • 1950 – Dennis Priestley, English darts player
  • 1950 – Frances Spalding, English historian and academic
  • 1950 – Tom Terrell, American journalist and photographer (d. 2007)
  • 1951 – Jean-Luc Mongrain, Canadian journalist
  • 1951 – Che Rosli, Malaysian politician
  • 1952 – Stewart Copeland, American drummer and songwriter
  • 1952 – Richard Egielski, American author and illustrator
  • 1952 – Marc Esposito, French director and screenwriter
  • 1952 – Ken McEwan, South African cricketer
  • 1953 – Douglas J. Feith, American lawyer and politician, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy
  • 1954 – Jeanette Mott Oxford, American politician
  • 1955 – Susan Wheeler, American poet and academic
  • 1955 – Saw Swee Leong, Malaysian badminton player
  • 1956 – Tony Kushner, American playwright and screenwriter
  • 1957 – Faye Grant, American actress
  • 1957 – Alexandra Marinina, Ukrainian-Russian colonel and author
  • 1958 – Mick Cornett, American politician, and former mayor of Oklahoma City.
  • 1958 – Michael Flatley, American-Irish dancer and choreographer
  • 1958 – Mike Rogers, American politician
  • 1959 – Gary Anderson, South African-American football player
  • 1959 – James MacMillan, Scottish composer and conductor
  • 1959 – Zoran Jolevski, Macedonian economist, politician, and diplomat, Macedonian Ambassador to the United States
  • 1959 – Jürgen Ligi, Estonian economist and politician, 25th Estonian Minister of Defence
  • 1960 – Terry Pendleton, American baseball player and coach
  • 1962 – Grigory Leps, Russian singer-songwriter
  • 1963 – Phoebe Cates, American actress
  • 1963 – Srečko Katanec, Slovenian footballer and coach
  • 1963 – Mikael Pernfors, Swedish tennis player
  • 1964 – Phil Hellmuth, American poker player
  • 1964 – Miguel Induráin, Spanish cyclist
  • 1965 – Michel Desjoyeaux, French sailor
  • 1965 – Claude Lemieux, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1965 – Sherri Stoner, American actress, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1966 – Jyrki Lumme, Finnish ice hockey player
  • 1967 – Will Ferrell, American actor, comedian, and producer
  • 1968 – Dhanraj Pillay, Indian field hockey player and manager
  • 1968 – Barry Sanders, American football player
  • 1968 – Larry Sanger, American philosopher and businessman, co-founded Wikipedia and Citizendium
  • 1968 – Michael Searle, Australian rugby league player and businessman
  • 1968 – Robert Sherman, American songwriter and businessman
  • 1968 – Olga Souza, Brazilian singer and dancer
  • 1969 – Jules De Martino, English singer-songwriter and bass player
  • 1969 – Kathryn Harby-Williams, Australian netball player and sportscaster
  • 1970 – Raimonds Miglinieks, Latvian basketball player and coach
  • 1970 – Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Thai director, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1971 – Corey Feldman, American actor
  • 1971 – Ed Kowalczyk, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Live)
  • 1972 – Ben Cahoon, American-Canadian football player and coach
  • 1972 – François Drolet, Canadian speed skater
  • 1973 – Shaun Pollock, South African cricketer
  • 1973 – Graham Robertson, American director and producer
  • 1973 – Tim Ryan, American politician
  • 1974 – Jeremy Enigk, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1974 – Maret Maripuu, Estonian politician, Estonian Minister of Social Affairs
  • 1974 – Ryan McCombs, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1974 – Wendell Sailor, Australian rugby player
  • 1975 – Bas Leinders, Belgian race car driver
  • 1976 – Tomasz Kuchar, Polish race car driver
  • 1976 – Carlos Humberto Paredes, Paraguayan footballer
  • 1976 – Anna Smashnova, Belarusian-Israeli tennis player
  • 1977 – Bryan Budd, Northern Ireland-born English soldier, Victoria Cross recipient (d. 2006)
  • 1979 – Chris Mihm, American basketball player
  • 1979 – Mai Nakamura, Japanese swimmer
  • 1979 – Kim Rhode, American sport shooter
  • 1979 – Nathan Rogers, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1979 – Konstantin Skrylnikov, Russian footballer
  • 1980 – Adam Scott, Australian golfer
  • 1981 – Giuseppe Di Masi, Italian footballer
  • 1981 – Robert Kranjec, Slovenian ski jumper
  • 1981 – Zach Randolph, American basketball player
  • 1981 – Vicente Rodríguez, Spanish footballer
  • 1982 – André Greipel, German cyclist
  • 1982 – Carli Lloyd, American soccer player
  • 1982 – Michael Umaña, Costa Rican footballer
  • 1983 – Duncan Keith, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1984 – Hayanari Shimoda, Japanese race car driver
  • 1984 – Attila Szabó, Hungarian decathlete
  • 1985 – Mārtiņš Kravčenko, Latvian basketball player
  • 1986 – Dustin Boyd, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1986 – Misako Uno, Japanese actress, singer, and fashion designer
  • 1987 – Mousa Dembélé, Belgian footballer
  • 1987 – AnnaLynne McCord, American actress and producer
  • 1987 – Knowshon Moreno, American football player
  • 1988 – Sergio Busquets, Spanish footballer
  • 1989 – Gareth Bale, Welsh footballer
  • 1990 – Bureta Faraimo, New Zealand rugby league player
  • 1990 – Wizkid, Nigerian singer and songwriter
  • 1990 – Johann Zarco, French motorcycle racer
  • 1991 – Nate Schmidt, American ice hockey player
  • 1991 – Andros Townsend, English footballer
  • 1996 – Daniel Pearson, English actor and presenter

Deaths on July 16

  • 784 – Fulrad, Frankish diplomat and saint (b. 710)
  • 866 – Irmgard, Frankish abbess
  • 1212 – William de Brus, 3rd Lord of Annandale
  • 1216 – Pope Innocent III (b. 1160)
  • 1324 – Emperor Go-Uda of Japan (b. 1267)
  • 1342 – Charles I of Hungary (b. 1288)
  • 1344 – An-Nasir Ahmad, Sultan of Egypt (b. 1316)
  • 1509 – João da Nova, Portuguese explorer (b. 1460)
  • 1546 – Anne Askew, English author and poet (b. 1520)
  • 1557 – Anne of Cleves (b. 1515)
  • 1576 – Isabella de’ Medici, Italian noble (b. 1542)
  • 1647 – Masaniello, Italian rebel (b. 1622)
  • 1664 – Andreas Gryphius, German poet and playwright (b. 1616)
  • 1686 – John Pearson, English bishop and scholar (b. 1612)
  • 1691 – François-Michel le Tellier, Marquis de Louvois, French politician, French Secretary of State for War (b. 1641)
  • 1729 – Johann David Heinichen, German composer and theorist (b. 1683)
  • 1747 – Giuseppe Crespi, Italian painter (b. 1665)
  • 1770 – Francis Cotes, English painter and academic (b. 1726)
  • 1796 – George Howard, English field marshal and politician (b. 1718)
  • 1831 – Louis Alexandre Andrault de Langeron, French-Russian general (b. 1763)
  • 1849 – Sarah Allen, African-American missionary for the African Methodist Episcopal Church (b. 1764)
  • 1868 – Dmitry Pisarev, Russian author and critic (b. 1840)
  • 1879 – Edward Deas Thomson, Scottish-Australian politician, 3rd Chief Secretary of New South Wales (b. 1800)
  • 1882 – Mary Todd Lincoln, First Lady of the United States 1861-1865 (b. 1818)
  • 1886 – Ned Buntline, American journalist and author (b. 1823)
  • 1896 – Edmond de Goncourt, French critic and publisher, founded Académie Goncourt (b. 1822)
  • 1915 – Ellen G. White, American theologian and author (b. 1827)
  • 1917 – Philipp Scharwenka, German composer and educator (b. 1847)
  • 1939 – Bartholomeus Roodenburch, Dutch swimmer (b. 1866)
  • 1949 – Vyacheslav Ivanov, Russian poet and playwright (b. 1866)
  • 1953 – Hilaire Belloc, French-born British writer and historian (b. 1870)
  • 1954 – Herms Niel, German soldier, trombonist, and composer (b. 1888)
  • 1960 – Albert Kesselring, German field marshal (b. 1881)
  • 1960 – John P. Marquand, American author (b. 1893)
  • 1964 – Rauf Orbay, Turkish colonel and politician, Prime Minister of Turkey (b. 1881)
  • 1965 – Boris Artzybasheff, Ukrainian-American illustrator (b.1899)
  • 1969 – James Scott Douglas, English-born Scottish race car driver and 6th Baronet Douglas (b. 1930)
  • 1981 – Harry Chapin, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1942)
  • 1982 – Charles Robberts Swart, South African lawyer and politician, 1st State President of South Africa (b. 1894)
  • 1985 – Heinrich Böll, German novelist and short story writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1917)
  • 1985 – Wayne King, American saxophonist, songwriter, and bandleader (b. 1901)
  • 1989 – Herbert von Karajan, Austrian conductor and manager (b. 1908)
  • 1990 – Robert Blackburn, Irish educator (b. 1927)
  • 1990 – Miguel Muñoz, Spanish footballer and manager (b. 1922)
  • 1991 – Meindert DeJong, Dutch-American soldier and author (b. 1906)
  • 1991 – Robert Motherwell, American painter and academic (b. 1915)
  • 1991 – Frank Rizzo, American police officer and politician, 93rd Mayor of Philadelphia (b. 1920)
  • 1992 – Buck Buchanan, American football player and coach (b. 1940)
  • 1994 – Julian Schwinger, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1918)
  • 1995 – May Sarton, American playwright and novelist (b. 1912)
  • 1995 – Stephen Spender, English author and poet (b. 1909)
  • 1996 – Adolf von Thadden, German lieutenant and politician (b. 1921)
  • 1998 – John Henrik Clarke, American historian and scholar (b. 1915)
  • 1999 – John F. Kennedy Jr., American lawyer and publisher (b. 1960)
  • 1999 – Alan Macnaughton, Canadian lawyer and politician, Speaker of the Canadian House of Commons (b. 1903)
  • 2001 – Morris, Belgian cartoonist (b. 1923)
  • 2002 – John Cocke, American computer scientist and engineer (b. 1925)
  • 2003 – Celia Cruz, Cuban-American singer and actress (b. 1925)
  • 2003 – Carol Shields, American-Canadian novelist and short story writer (b. 1935)
  • 2004 – George Busbee, American lawyer and politician, 77th Governor of Georgia (b. 1927)
  • 2004 – Charles Sweeney, American general and pilot (b. 1919)
  • 2005 – Pietro Consagra, Italian sculptor (b. 1920)
  • 2005 – Camillo Felgen, Luxembourgian singer-songwriter and radio host (b. 1920)
  • 2006 – Winthrop Paul Rockefeller, American businessman and politician, 13th Lieutenant Governor of Arkansas (b. 1948)
  • 2007 – Caterina Bueno, Italian singer and historian (b. 1943)
  • 2008 – Jo Stafford, American singer (b. 1917)
  • 2008 – Lindsay Thompson, Australian politician, 40th Premier of Victoria (b. 1923)
  • 2011 – Forrest Blue, American football player (b. 1944)
  • 2012 – William Asher, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1921)
  • 2012 – Stephen Covey, American businessman and author (b. 1932)
  • 2012 – Gilbert Esau, American businessman and politician (b. 1919)
  • 2012 – Ed Lincoln, Brazilian bassist, pianist, and composer (b. 1932)
  • 2012 – Masaharu Matsushita, Japanese businessman (b. 1913)
  • 2012 – Kitty Wells, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1919)
  • 2013 – Alex Colville, Canadian painter and academic (b. 1920)
  • 2013 – Marv Rotblatt, American baseball player (1927)
  • 2014 – Karl Albrecht, German businessman, co-founded Aldi (b. 1920)
  • 2014 – Mary Ellen Otremba, American educator and politician (b. 1950)
  • 2014 – Johnny Winter, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (b. 1944)
  • 2014 – Heinz Zemanek, Austrian computer scientist and academic (b. 1920)
  • 2015 – Denis Avey, English soldier, engineer, and author (b. 1919)
  • 2015 – Evelyn Ebsworth, English chemist and academic (b. 1933)
  • 2015 – Alcides Ghiggia, Uruguayan footballer and manager (b. 1926)
  • 2015 – Jack Goody, English anthropologist, author, and academic (b. 1919)
  • 2017 – George Romero, American filmmaker (b. 1940)

Holidays and observances on July 16

  • Christian feast day:
    • Gondulphus of Tongeren
    • Helier
    • Our Lady of Mount Carmel
      • Fiesta de La Tirana (Tarapacá Region, Chile)
    • Reineldis
    • July 16 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Engineer’s Day (Honduras)
  • Holocaust Memorial Day (France)

July 16 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

July 4 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

The Aphelion, the point in the year when the Earth is farthest from the Sun, occurs around this date.

July 4 in History

  • 362 BC – Battle of Mantinea: The Thebans, led by Epaminondas, defeated the Spartans.
  • 414 – Emperor Theodosius II, age 13, yields power to his older sister Aelia Pulcheria, who reigned as regent and proclaimed herself empress (Augusta) of the Eastern Roman Empire.
  • 836 – Pactum Sicardi, a peace treaty between the Principality of Benevento and the Duchy of Naples, is signed.
  • 993 – Ulrich of Augsburg is canonized as a saint.
  • 1054 – A supernova, called SN 1054, is seen by Chinese Song dynasty, Arab, and possibly Amerindian observers near the star Zeta Tauri. For several months it remains bright enough to be seen during the day. Its remnants form the Crab Nebula.
  • 1120 – Jordan II of Capua is anointed as prince after his infant nephew’s death.
  • 1187 – The Crusades: Battle of Hattin: Saladin defeats Guy of Lusignan, King of Jerusalem.
  • 1253 – Battle of West-Capelle: John I of Avesnes defeats Guy of Dampierre.
  • 1359 – Francesco II Ordelaffi of Forlì surrenders to the Papal commander Gil de Albornoz.
  • 1456 – Ottoman–Hungarian wars: The Siege of Nándorfehérvár (Belgrade) begins.
  • 1534 – Christian III is elected King of Denmark and Norway in the town of Rye.
  • 1584 – Philip Amadas and Arthur Barlowe arrive at Roanoke Island
  • 1610 – The Battle of Klushino is fought between forces of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Russia during the Polish–Muscovite War.
  • 1634 – The city of Trois-Rivières is founded in New France (now Quebec, Canada).
  • 1744 – The Treaty of Lancaster, in which the Iroquois cede lands between the Allegheny Mountains and the Ohio River to the British colonies, was signed in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
  • 1774 – Orangetown Resolutions are adopted in the Province of New York, one of many protests against the British Parliament’s Coercive Acts.
  • 1776 – American Revolution: The United States Declaration of Independence is adopted by the Second Continental Congress.
  • 1778 – American Revolutionary War: U.S. forces under George Clark capture Kaskaskia during the Illinois campaign.
  • 1802 – At West Point, New York, the United States Military Academy opens.
  • 1803 – The Louisiana Purchase is announced to the American people.
  • 1817 – In Rome, New York, construction on the Erie Canal begins.
  • 1826 – John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, respectively the second and third presidents of the United States, die the same day, on the fiftieth anniversary of the adoption of the United States Declaration of Independence. Adams’ last words were, “Thomas Jefferson survives.”
  • 1827 – Slavery is abolished in the State of New York.
  • 1831 – Samuel Francis Smith writes “My Country, ‘Tis of Thee” for the Boston, Massachusetts July 4 festivities.
  • 1837 – Grand Junction Railway, the world’s first long-distance railway, opens between Birmingham and Liverpool.
  • 1838 – The Iowa Territory is organized.
  • 1845 – Henry David Thoreau moves into a small cabin on Walden Pond in Concord, Massachusetts. Thoreau’s account of his two years there, Walden, will become a touchstone of the environmental movement.
  • 1855 – The first edition of Walt Whitman’s book of poems, Leaves of Grass, is published In Brooklyn.
  • 1862 – Lewis Carroll tells Alice Liddell a story that would grow into Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and its sequels.
  • 1863 – American Civil War: Siege of Vicksburg: Vicksburg, Mississippi surrenders to U.S. forces under Ulysses S. Grant after 47 days of siege. One hundred fifty miles up the Mississippi River, a Confederate army is repulsed at the Battle of Helena, Arkansas.
  • 1863 – American Civil War: The Army of Northern Virginia withdraws from the battlefield after losing the Battle of Gettysburg, signalling an end to the Confederate invasion of U.S. territory.
  • 1879 – Anglo-Zulu War: The Zululand capital of Ulundi is captured by British troops and burned to the ground, ending the war and forcing King Cetshwayo to flee.
  • 1881 – In Alabama, the Tuskegee Institute opens.
  • 1886 – The Canadian Pacific Railway’s first scheduled train from Montreal arrives in Port Moody on the Pacific coast, after six days of travel.
  • 1887 – The founder of Pakistan, Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, joins Sindh-Madrasa-tul-Islam, Karachi.
  • 1892 – Western Samoa changes the International Date Line, causing Monday (July 4) to occur twice, resulting in a year with 367 days.
  • 1894 – The short-lived Republic of Hawaii is proclaimed by Sanford B. Dole.
  • 1898 – En route from New York to Le Havre, the SS La Bourgogne collides with another ship and sinks off the coast of Sable Island, with the loss of 549 lives.
  • 1901 – William Howard Taft becomes American governor of the Philippines.
  • 1903 – The Philippine–American War is officially concluded.
  • 1910 – The Johnson–Jeffries riots occur after African-American boxer Jack Johnson knocks out white boxer Jim Jeffries in the 15th round. Between 11 and 26 people are killed and hundreds more injured.
  • 1911 – A massive heat wave strikes the northeastern United States, killing 380 people in eleven days and breaking temperature records in several cities.
  • 1913 – President Woodrow Wilson addresses American Civil War veterans at the Great Reunion of 1913.
  • 1914 – The funeral of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie takes place in Vienna, six days after their assassinations in Sarajevo.
  • 1918 – Mehmed V died at the age of 73 and Ottoman sultan Mehmed VI ascends to the throne.
  • 1918 – World War I: The Battle of Hamel, a successful attack by the Australian Corps against German positions near the town of Le Hamel on the Western Front.
  • 1918 – Bolsheviks kill Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and his family (Julian calendar date).
  • 1927 – First flight of the Lockheed Vega.
  • 1939 – Lou Gehrig, recently diagnosed with Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, informs a crowd at Yankee Stadium that he considers himself “The luckiest man on the face of the earth”, then announces his retirement from major league baseball.
  • 1941 – Nazi crimes against the Polish nation: Nazi troops massacre Polish scientists and writers in the captured Ukrainian city of Lviv.
  • 1941 – World War II: The Burning of the Riga synagogues: The Great Choral Synagogue in German occupied Riga is burnt with 300 Jews locked in the basement.
  • 1942 – World War II: The 250-day Siege of Sevastopol in the Crimea ends when the city falls to Axis forces.
  • 1943 – World War II: The Battle of Kursk, the largest full-scale battle in history and the world’s largest tank battle, begins in the village of Prokhorovka.
  • 1943 – World War II: In Gibraltar, a Royal Air Force B-24 Liberator bomber crashes into the sea in an apparent accident moments after takeoff, killing sixteen passengers on board, including general Władysław Sikorski, the commander-in-chief of the Polish Army and the Prime Minister of the Polish government-in-exile; only the pilot survives.
  • 1946 – The Kielce pogrom against Jewish Holocaust survivors in Poland.
  • 1946 – After 381 years of near-continuous colonial rule by various powers, the Philippines attains full independence from the United States.
  • 1947 – The “Indian Independence Bill” is presented before the British House of Commons, proposing the independence of the Provinces of British India into two sovereign countries: India and Pakistan.
  • 1950 – Cold War: Radio Free Europe first broadcasts.
  • 1951 – Cold War: A court in Czechoslovakia sentences American journalist William N. Oatis to ten years in prison on charges of espionage.
  • 1951 – William Shockley announces the invention of the junction transistor.
  • 1954 – Rationing ends in the United Kingdom.
  • 1960 – Due to the post-Independence Day admission of Hawaii as the 50th U.S. state on August 21, 1959, the 50-star flag of the United States debuts in Philadelphia, almost ten and a half months later (see Flag Acts (United States)).
  • 1961 – On its maiden voyage, the Soviet nuclear-powered submarine K-19 suffers a complete loss of coolant to its reactor. The crew are able to effect repairs, but 22 of them die of radiation poisoning over the following two years.
  • 1966 – U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Freedom of Information Act into United States law. The act went into effect the next year.
  • 1976 – Israeli commandos raid Entebbe airport in Uganda, rescuing all but four of the passengers and crew of an Air France jetliner seized by Palestinian terrorists.
  • 1976 – The U.S. celebrates its Bicentennial.
  • 1977 – The George Jackson Brigade plants a bomb at the main power substation for the Washington state capitol in Olympia, in solidarity with a prison strike at the Walla Walla State Penitentiary Intensive Security Unit.
  • 1982 – Three Iranian diplomats and a journalist are kidnapped in Lebanon by Phalange forces, and their fate remains unknown.
  • 1987 – In France, former Gestapo chief Klaus Barbie (a.k.a. the “Butcher of Lyon”) is convicted of crimes against humanity and sentenced to life imprisonment.
  • 1994 – Rwandan genocide: Kigali, the Rwandan capital, is captured by the Rwandan Patriotic Front, ending the genocide in the city.
  • 1997 – NASA’s Pathfinder space probe lands on the surface of Mars.
  • 1998 – Japan launches the Nozomi probe to Mars, joining the United States and Russia as a space exploring nation.
  • 2001 – Vladivostock Air Flight 352 crashes on approach to Irkutsk Airport killing all 145 people on board.
  • 2004 – The cornerstone of the Freedom Tower is laid on the World Trade Center site in New York City.
  • 2004 – Greece beats Portugal in the UEFA Euro 2004 Final and becomes European Champion for first time in its history.
  • 2005 – The Deep Impact collider hits the comet Tempel 1.
  • 2006 – Space Shuttle program: Discovery launches STS-121 to the International Space Station. The event gained wide media attention as it was the only shuttle launch in the program’s history to occur on the United States’ Independence Day.
  • 2009 – The Statue of Liberty’s crown reopens to the public after eight years of closure due to security concerns following the September 11 attacks.
  • 2009 – The first of four days of bombings begins on the southern Philippine island group of Mindanao.
  • 2012 – The discovery of particles consistent with the Higgs boson at the Large Hadron Collider is announced at CERN.
  • 2015 – Chile claims its first title in international soccer by defeating Argentina in the 2015 Copa América Final.

Births on July 4

  • AD 68 – Salonina Matidia, Roman daughter of Ulpia Marciana (d. 119)
  • 1095 – Usama ibn Munqidh, Muslim poet, author and faris (Knight) (d. 1188)
  • 1330 – Ashikaga Yoshiakira, Japanese shōgun (d. 1367)
  • 1477 – Johannes Aventinus, Bavarian historian and philologist (d. 1534)
  • 1546 – Murad III, Ottoman sultan (d. 1595)
  • 1656 – John Leake, Royal Navy admiral (d. 1720)
  • 1694 – Louis-Claude Daquin, French organist and composer (d. 1772)
  • 1715 – Christian Fürchtegott Gellert, German poet and academic (d. 1769)
  • 1719 – Michel-Jean Sedaine, French playwright (d. 1797)
  • 1729 – George Leonard, American lawyer, jurist and politician (d. 1819)
  • 1753 – Jean-Pierre Blanchard, French inventor, best known as a pioneer in balloon flight (d. 1809)
  • 1790 – George Everest, Welsh geographer and surveyor (d. 1866)
  • 1799 – Oscar I of Sweden (d. 1859)
  • 1804 – Nathaniel Hawthorne, American novelist and short story writer (d. 1864)
  • 1807 – Giuseppe Garibaldi, Italian general and politician (d. 1882)
  • 1816 – Hiram Walker, American businessman, founded Canadian Club whisky (d. 1899)
  • 1826 – Stephen Foster, American songwriter and composer (d. 1864)
  • 1842 – Hermann Cohen, German philosopher (d. 1918)
  • 1845 – Thomas John Barnardo, Irish philanthropist and humanitarian (d. 1905)
  • 1847 – James Anthony Bailey, American circus ringmaster, co-founded Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus (d. 1906)
  • 1854 – Victor Babeș, Romanian physician and biologist (d. 1926)
  • 1868 – Henrietta Swan Leavitt, American astronomer and academic (d. 1921)
  • 1871 – Hubert Cecil Booth, English engineer (d. 1955)
  • 1872 – Calvin Coolidge, American lawyer and politician, 30th President of the United States (d. 1933)
  • 1874 – John McPhee, Australian journalist and politician, 27th Premier of Tasmania (d. 1952)
  • 1880 – Victor Kraft, Austrian philosopher from the Vienna Circle (d. 1975)
  • 1881 – Ulysses S. Grant III, American general (d. 1968)
  • 1883 – Rube Goldberg, American sculptor, cartoonist, and engineer (d. 1970)
  • 1887 – Pio Pion, Italian engineer and businessman (d. 1965)
  • 1888 – Henry Armetta, Italian-American actor and singer (d. 1945)
  • 1895 – Irving Caesar, American songwriter and composer (d. 1996)
  • 1896 – Mao Dun, Chinese journalist, author, and critic (d. 1981)
  • 1897 – Alluri Sitarama Raju, Indian activist (d. 1924)
  • 1898 – Pilar Barbosa, Puerto Rican-American historian and activist (d. 1997)
  • 1898 – Gertrude Lawrence, British actress, singer, and dancer (d. 1952)
  • 1898 – Gulzarilal Nanda, Indian politician (d. 1998)
  • 1898 – Gertrude Weaver, American supercentenarian (d. 2015)
  • 1900 – Belinda Dann, Indigenous Australian who was one of the Stolen Generation, reunited with family aged 107 (d. 2007)
  • 1900 – Nellie Mae Rowe, American folk artist (d. 1982)
  • 1902 – Meyer Lansky, American gangster (d. 1983)
  • 1902 – George Murphy, American actor and politician (d. 1992)
  • 1903 – Flor Peeters, Belgian organist, composer, and educator (d. 1986)
  • 1904 – Angela Baddeley, English actress (d. 1976)
  • 1905 – Irving Johnson, American sailor and author (d. 1991)
  • 1905 – Robert Hankey, 2nd Baron Hankey, British diplomat and public servant (d. 1996)
  • 1905 – Lionel Trilling, American critic, essayist, short story writer, and educator (d. 1975)
  • 1906 – Vincent Schaefer, American chemist and meteorologist (d. 1993)
  • 1907 – John Anderson, American discus thrower (d. 1948)
  • 1907 – Howard Taubman, American author and critic (d. 1996)
  • 1909 – Alec Templeton, Welsh composer, pianist and satirist (d. 1963)
  • 1910 – Robert K. Merton, American sociologist and scholar (d. 2003)
  • 1910 – Gloria Stuart, American actress (d. 2010)
  • 1911 – Bruce Hamilton, Australian public servant (d. 1989)
  • 1911 – Mitch Miller, American singer and producer (d. 2010)
  • 1914 – Nuccio Bertone, Italian automobile designer (d. 1997)
  • 1915 – Timmie Rogers, American actor and singer-songwriter (d. 2006)
  • 1916 – Iva Toguri D’Aquino, American typist and broadcaster (d. 2006)
  • 1918 – Eppie Lederer, American journalist and radio host (d. 2002)
  • 1918 – Johnnie Parsons, American race car driver (d. 1984)
  • 1918 – King Taufa’ahau Tupou IV of Tonga, (d. 2006)
  • 1918 – Alec Bedser, English cricketer (d. 2010)
  • 1918 – Eric Bedser, English cricketer (d. 2006)
  • 1918 – Pauline Phillips, American journalist and radio host, created Dear Abby (d. 2013)
  • 1920 – Norm Drucker, American basketball player and referee (d. 2015)
  • 1920 – Leona Helmsley, American businesswoman (d. 2007)
  • 1920 – Fritz Wilde, German footballer and manager (d. 1977)
  • 1920 – Paul Bannai, American politician (d. 2019)
  • 1921 – Gérard Debreu, French economist and mathematician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2004)
  • 1921 – Nasser Sharifi, Iranian sports shooter
  • 1921 – Metropolitan Mikhail of Asyut (d. 2014)
  • 1921 – Philip Rose, American actor, playwright, and producer (d. 2011)
  • 1921 – Tibor Varga, Hungarian violinist and conductor (d. 2003)
  • 1922 – R. James Harvey, American politician (d. 2019)
  • 1923 – Rudolf Friedrich, Swiss lawyer and politician (d. 2013)
  • 1924 – Eva Marie Saint, American actress
  • 1924 – Delia Fiallo, Cuban author and screenwriter
  • 1925 – Ciril Zlobec, Slovene poet, writer, translator, journalist and politician (d. 2018)
  • 1925 – Dorothy Head Knode, American tennis player (d. 2015)
  • 1926 – Alfredo Di Stéfano, Argentinian-Spanish footballer and coach (d. 2014)
  • 1926 – Lake Underwood, American race car driver and businessman (d. 2008)
  • 1927 – Gina Lollobrigida, Italian actress and photographer
  • 1927 – Neil Simon, American playwright and screenwriter (d. 2018)
  • 1928 – Giampiero Boniperti, Italian footballer and politician
  • 1928 – Teofisto Guingona Jr., Filipino politician; 11th Vice President of the Philippines
  • 1928 – Jassem Alwan, Syrian Army Officer (d. 2018)
  • 1928 – Shan Ratnam, Sri Lankan physician and academic (d. 2001)
  • 1928 – Chuck Tanner, American baseball player and manager (d. 2011)
  • 1929 – Ron Casey, Australian journalist and sportscaster (d. 2018)
  • 1929 – Al Davis, American football player, coach, and manager (d. 2011)
  • 1929 – Bill Tuttle, American baseball player (d. 1998)
  • 1930 – George Steinbrenner, American businessman (d. 2010)
  • 1931 – Stephen Boyd, Northern Ireland-born American actor (d. 1977)
  • 1931 – Rick Casares, American football player and soldier (d. 2013)
  • 1931 – Sébastien Japrisot, French author, director, and screenwriter (d. 2003)
  • 1931 – Peter Richardson, English cricketer (d. 2017)
  • 1932 – Aurèle Vandendriessche, Belgian runner
  • 1934 – Yvonne B. Miller, American academic and politician (d. 2012)
  • 1934 – Colin Welland, English actor and screenwriter (d. 2015)
  • 1935 – Paul Scoon, Grenadian politician, 2nd Governor-General of Grenada (d. 2013)
  • 1936 – Zdzisława Donat, Polish soprano and actress
  • 1937 – Thomas Nagel, American philosopher and academic
  • 1937 – Queen Sonja of Norway
  • 1937 – Richard Rhodes, American journalist and historian
  • 1937 – Eric Walters, Australian journalist (d. 2010)
  • 1938 – Steven Rose, English biologist and academic
  • 1938 – Bill Withers, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2020)
  • 1940 – Pat Stapleton, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2020)
  • 1941 – Sam Farr, American politician
  • 1941 – Tomaž Šalamun, Croatian-Slovenian poet and academic (d. 2014)
  • 1941 – Pavel Sedláček, Czech singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1941 – Brian Willson, American soldier, lawyer, and activist
  • 1942 – Hal Lanier, American baseball player, coach, and manager
  • 1942 – Floyd Little, American football player and coach
  • 1942 – Stefan Meller, French-Polish academic and politician, Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 2008)
  • 1942 – Prince Michael of Kent
  • 1942 – Peter Rowan, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1943 – Conny Bauer, German trombonist
  • 1943 – Emerson Boozer, American football player and sportscaster
  • 1943 – Adam Hart-Davis, English historian, author, and photographer
  • 1943 – Geraldo Rivera, American lawyer, journalist, and author
  • 1943 – Fred Wesley, American jazz and funk trombonist
  • 1943 – Alan Wilson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1970)
  • 1945 – Andre Spitzer, Romanian-Israeli fencer and coach (d. 1972)
  • 1946 – Ron Kovic, American author and activist
  • 1946 – Michael Milken, American businessman and philanthropist
  • 1947 – Lembit Ulfsak, Estonian actor and director (d. 2017)
  • 1948 – René Arnoux, French race car driver
  • 1948 – Tommy Körberg, Swedish singer and actor
  • 1948 – Jeremy Spencer, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1950 – Philip Craven, English basketball player and swimmer
  • 1950 – David Jensen, Canadian-English radio and television host
  • 1951 – John Alexander, Australian tennis player and politician
  • 1951 – Ralph Johnson, American R&B drummer and percussionist
  • 1951 – Vladimir Tismăneanu, Romanian-American political scientist, sociologist, and academic
  • 1951 – Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, American lawyer and politician, 6th Lieutenant Governor of Maryland
  • 1952 – Álvaro Uribe, Colombian lawyer and politician, 39th President of Colombia
  • 1952 – Carol MacReady, English actress
  • 1952 – John Waite, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1952 – Paul Rogat Loeb, American author and activist
  • 1953 – Francis Maude, English lawyer and politician, Minister for the Cabinet Office
  • 1954 – Jim Beattie, American baseball player, coach, and manager
  • 1954 – Morganna, American model, actress, and dancer
  • 1954 – Devendra Kumar Joshi, 21st Chief of Naval Staff of the Indian Navy
  • 1955 – Kevin Nichols, Australian cyclist
  • 1956 – Robert Sinclair MacKay, British academic and educator
  • 1957 – Rein Lang, Estonian politician and diplomat, 25th Estonian Minister of Foreign Affairs
  • 1958 – Vera Leth, Greenlandic Ombudsman
  • 1958 – Kirk Pengilly, Australian guitarist, saxophonist, and songwriter
  • 1958 – Carl Valentine, English-Canadian footballer, coach, and manager
  • 1959 – Victoria Abril, Spanish actress and singer
  • 1960 – Roland Ratzenberger, Austrian race car driver (d. 1994)
  • 1961 – Richard Garriott, English-American video game designer, created the Ultima series
  • 1962 – Pam Shriver, American tennis player and sportscaster
  • 1963 – Henri Leconte, French tennis player and sportscaster
  • 1963 – Laureano Márquez, Spanish-Venezuelan political scientist and journalist
  • 1963 – José Oquendo, Puerto Rican-American baseball player and coach
  • 1963 – Sonia Pierre, Hatian-Dominican human rights activist (d. 2011)
  • 1964 – Cle Kooiman, American soccer player and manager
  • 1964 – Elie Saab, Lebanese fashion designer
  • 1964 – Edi Rama, Albanian politician
  • 1964 – Mark Slaughter, American singer-songwriter and producer
  • 1964 – Mark Whiting, American actor, director, and screenwriter
  • 1965 – Harvey Grant, American basketball player and coach
  • 1965 – Horace Grant, American basketball player and coach
  • 1965 – Kiriakos Karataidis, Greek footballer and manager
  • 1965 – Gérard Watkins, English actor and playwright
  • 1966 – Ronni Ancona, Scottish actress and screenwriter
  • 1966 – Minas Hantzidis, German-Greek footballer
  • 1966 – Lee Reherman, American actor (d. 2016)
  • 1967 – Vinny Castilla, Mexican baseball player and manager
  • 1967 – Sébastien Deleigne, French athlete
  • 1969 – Al Golden, American football player and coach
  • 1969 – Todd Marinovich, American football player and coach
  • 1969 – Wilfred Mugeyi, Zimbabwean footballer and coach
  • 1972 – Stephen Giles, Canadian canoe racer and engineer
  • 1972 – Mike Knuble, Canadian-American ice hockey player and coach
  • 1973 – Keiko Ihara, Japanese race car driver
  • 1973 – Gackt, Japanese musician, singer, songwriter, record producer and actor
  • 1973 – Michael Johnson, English-Jamaican footballer and manager
  • 1973 – Anjelika Krylova, Russian ice dancer and coach
  • 1973 – Jan Magnussen, Danish race car driver
  • 1973 – Tony Popovic, Australian footballer and manager
  • 1974 – Jill Craybas, American tennis player
  • 1974 – La’Roi Glover, American football player and sportscaster
  • 1974 – Adrian Griffin, American basketball player and coach
  • 1976 – Daijiro Kato, Japanese motorcycle racer (d. 2003)
  • 1976 – Yevgeniya Medvedeva, Russian skier
  • 1978 – Marcos Daniel, Brazilian tennis player
  • 1978 – Émile Mpenza, Belgian footballer
  • 1979 – Siim Kabrits, Estonian politician
  • 1979 – Josh McCown, American football player
  • 1979 – Renny Vega, Venezuelan footballer
  • 1980 – Kwame Steede, Bermudan footballer
  • 1981 – Dedé, Angolan footballer
  • 1981 – Brock Berlin, American football player
  • 1981 – Christoph Preuß, German footballer
  • 1981 – Francisco Cruceta, Dominican baseball player
  • 1981 – Will Smith, American football player (d. 2016)
  • 1982 – Vladimir Boisa, Georgian basketball player
  • 1982 – Vladimir Gusev, Russian cyclist
  • 1982 – Jeff Lima, New Zealand rugby league player
  • 1982 – Michael “The Situation” Sorrentino, American model, author and television personality
  • 1983 – Melanie Fiona, Canadian singer-songwriter
  • 1983 – Amantle Montsho, Botswanan sprinter
  • 1983 – Miguel Pinto, Chilean footballer
  • 1983 – Amol Rajan, Indian-English journalist
  • 1983 – Mattia Serafini, Italian footballer
  • 1984 – Jin Akanishi, Japanese singer-songwriter
  • 1984 – Miguel Santos Soares, Timorese footballer
  • 1985 – Kane Tenace, Australian footballer
  • 1985 – Dimitrios Mavroeidis, Greek basketball player
  • 1985 – Wason Rentería, Colombian footballer
  • 1986 – Ömer Aşık, Turkish basketball player
  • 1986 – Nguyen Ngoc Duy, Vietnamese footballer
  • 1986 – Rafael Arévalo, Salvadoran tennis player
  • 1986 – Willem Janssen, Dutch footballer
  • 1986 – Terrance Knighton, American football player
  • 1986 – Marte Elden, Norwegian skier
  • 1987 – Wude Ayalew, Ethiopian runner
  • 1987 – Guram Kashia, Georgian footballer
  • 1988 – Angelique Boyer, French-Mexican actress
  • 1989 – Benjamin Büchel, Liechtensteiner footballer
  • 1990 – Jake Gardiner, American ice hockey player
  • 1990 – Richard Mpong, Ghanaian footballer
  • 1990 – Naoki Yamada, Japanese footballer
  • 1990 – Ihar Yasinski, Belarusian footballer
  • 1992 – Ángel Romero, Paraguayan footballer
  • 1992 – Óscar Romero, Paraguayan footballer
  • 1993 – Tom Barkhuizen, English footballer
  • 1995 – Post Malone, American singer, rapper, songwriter and record producer
  • 1999 – Moa Kikuchi, Japanese musician
  • 2003 – Polina Bogusevich, Russian singer

Deaths on July 4

  • 673 – Ecgberht, king of Kent
  • 907 – Luitpold, margrave of Bavaria
  • 907 – Dietmar I, archbishop of Salzburg
  • 910 – Luo Shaowei, Chinese warlord (b. 877)
  • 940 – Wang Jianli, Chinese general (b. 871)
  • 943 – Taejo of Goryeo, Korean king (b. 877)
  • 945 – Zhuo Yanming, Chinese Buddhist monk and emperor
  • 965 – Benedict V, pope of the Catholic Church
  • 973 – Ulrich of Augsburg, German bishop and saint (b. 890)
  • 975 – Gwangjong of Goryeo, Korean king (b. 925)
  • 1187 – Raynald of Châtillon, French knight (b. 1125)
  • 1307 – Rudolf I of Bohemia (b. 1281)
  • 1336 – Saint Elizabeth of Portugal (b. 1271)
  • 1429 – Carlo I Tocco, ruler of Epirus (b. 1372)
  • 1533 – John Frith, English priest, writer, and martyr (b. 1503)
  • 1541 – Pedro de Alvarado, Spanish general and explorer (b. 1495)
  • 1546 – Hayreddin Barbarossa, Ottoman admiral (b. 1478)
  • 1551 – Gregory Cromwell, 1st Baron Cromwell, English politician (b. 1514)
  • 1603 – Philippe de Monte, Flemish composer and educator (b. 1521)
  • 1623 – William Byrd, English composer (b. c. 1540)
  • 1644 – Brian Twyne, English academic, antiquarian and archivist (b. 1581)
  • 1648 – Antoine Daniel, French missionary and saint, one of the eight Canadian Martyrs (b. 1601)
  • 1742 – Luigi Guido Grandi, Italian monk, mathematician, and engineer (b. 1671)
  • 1754 – Philippe Néricault Destouches, French playwright and author (b. 1680)
  • 1761 – Samuel Richardson, English author and painter (b. 1689)
  • 1780 – Prince Charles Alexander of Lorraine (b. 1712)
  • 1787 – Charles, Prince of Soubise, Marshal of France (b. 1715)
  • 1821 – Richard Cosway, English painter and academic (b. 1742)
  • 1826 – John Adams, American lawyer and politician, 2nd President of the United States (b. 1735)
  • 1826 – Thomas Jefferson, American architect, lawyer, and politician, 3rd President of the United States (b. 1743)
  • 1831 – James Monroe, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 5th President of the United States (b. 1758)
  • 1848 – François-René de Chateaubriand, French historian and politician (b. 1768)
  • 1850 – William Kirby, English entomologist and author (b. 1759)
  • 1854 – Karl Friedrich Eichhorn, German academic and jurist (b. 1781)
  • 1857 – William L. Marcy, American lawyer, judge, and politician, 21st United States Secretary of State (b. 1786)
  • 1881 – Johan Vilhelm Snellman, Finnish philosopher and politician (b. 1806)
  • 1882 – Joseph Brackett, American composer and author (b. 1797)
  • 1886 – Poundmaker, Canadian tribal chief (b. 1797)
  • 1891 – Hannibal Hamlin, American lawyer and politician, 15th Vice President of the United States (b. 1809)
  • 1901 – Johannes Schmidt, German linguist and academic (b. 1843)
  • 1902 – Vivekananda, Indian monk and saint (b. 1863)
  • 1905 – Élisée Reclus, French geographer and author (b. 1830)
  • 1910 – Melville Fuller, American lawyer and jurist, Chief Justice of the United States (b. 1833)
  • 1910 – Giovanni Schiaparelli, Italian astronomer and historian (b. 1835)
  • 1916 – Alan Seeger, American soldier and poet (b. 1888)
  • 1922 – Lothar von Richthofen, German lieutenant and pilot (b. 1894)
  • 1926 – Pier Giorgio Frassati, Italian activist and saint (b. 1901)
  • 1934 – Marie Curie, French-Polish physicist and chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1867)
  • 1938 – Otto Bauer, Austrian philosopher and politician, Austrian Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1881)
  • 1938 – Suzanne Lenglen, French tennis player (b. 1899)
  • 1941 – Antoni Łomnicki, Polish mathematician and academic (b. 1881)
  • 1943 – Władysław Sikorski, Polish general and politician, 9th Prime Minister of the Second Republic of Poland (b. 1881)
  • 1946 – Taffy O’Callaghan, Welsh footballer and coach (b. 1906)
  • 1948 – Monteiro Lobato, Brazilian journalist and author (b. 1882)
  • 1949 – François Brandt, Dutch rower and engineer (b. 1874)
  • 1963 – Bernard Freyberg, 1st Baron Freyberg, New Zealand general and politician, 7th Governor-General of New Zealand (b. 1889)
  • 1963 – Clyde Kennard, American activist and martyr (b. 1927)
  • 1963 – Pingali Venkayya, Indian activist, designed the Flag of India (b. 1876)
  • 1964 – Gaby Morlay, French actress and singer (b. 1893)
  • 1969 – Henri Decoin, French director and screenwriter (b. 1890)
  • 1970 – Barnett Newman, American painter and illustrator (b. 1905)
  • 1970 – Harold Stirling Vanderbilt, American sailor and businessman (b. 1884)
  • 1971 – August Derleth, American anthologist and author (b. 1909)
  • 1971 – Thomas C. Hart, American admiral and politician (b. 1877)
  • 1974 – Georgette Heyer, English author (b. 1902)
  • 1974 – André Randall, French actor (b. 1892)
  • 1976 – Yonatan Netanyahu, Israeli colonel (b. 1946)
  • 1976 – Antoni Słonimski, Polish poet and playwright (b. 1895)
  • 1977 – Gersh Budker, Ukrainian physicist and academic (b. 1918)
  • 1979 – Lee Wai Tong, Chinese footballer and manager (b. 1905)
  • 1980 – Maurice Grevisse, Belgian linguist and author (b. 1895)
  • 1984 – Jimmie Spheeris, American singer-songwriter (b. 1949)
  • 1986 – Paul-Gilbert Langevin, French musicologist, critique musical and physicist (b. 1933)
  • 1986 – Flor Peeters, Belgian organist and composer (b. 1903)
  • 1986 – Oscar Zariski, Belarusian-American mathematician and academic (b. 1899)
  • 1988 – Adrian Adonis, American wrestler (b. 1954)
  • 1990 – Olive Ann Burns, American journalist and author (b. 1924)
  • 1991 – Victor Chang, Chinese-Australian surgeon and physician (b. 1936)
  • 1991 – Art Sansom, American cartoonist (b. 1920)
  • 1992 – Astor Piazzolla, Argentinian bandoneon player and composer (b. 1921)
  • 1993 – Bona Arsenault, Canadian historian, genealogist, and politician (b. 1903)
  • 1994 – Joey Marella, American wrestling referee (b. 1964)
  • 1995 – Eva Gabor, Hungarian-American actress and singer (b. 1919)
  • 1995 – Bob Ross, American painter and television host (b. 1942)
  • 1997 – Charles Kuralt, American journalist (b. 1934)
  • 1997 – John Zachary Young, English zoologist and neurophysiologist (b. 1907)
  • 1999 – Leo Garel, American illustrator and educator (b. 1917)
  • 2000 – Gustaw Herling-Grudziński, Polish journalist and author (b. 1919)
  • 2002 – Gerald Bales, Canadian organist and composer (b. 1919)
  • 2002 – Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., American general (b. 1912)
  • 2003 – Larry Burkett, American author and radio host (b. 1939)
  • 2003 – André Claveau, French singer (b. 1915)
  • 2003 – Barry White, American singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer (b. 1944)
  • 2004 – Jean-Marie Auberson, Swiss violinist and conductor (b. 1920)
  • 2005 – Cliff Goupille, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1915)
  • 2005 – Hank Stram, American football player and coach (b. 1923)
  • 2007 – Bill Pinkney, American singer (b. 1925)
  • 2008 – Thomas M. Disch, American author and poet (b. 1940)
  • 2008 – Jesse Helms, American politician (b. 1921)
  • 2008 – Evelyn Keyes, American actress (b. 1916)
  • 2008 – Terrence Kiel, American football player (b. 1980)
  • 2008 – Charles Wheeler, German-English soldier and journalist (b. 1923)
  • 2009 – Brenda Joyce, American actress (b. 1917)
  • 2009 – Allen Klein, American businessman and talent agent, founded ABKCO Records (b. 1931)
  • 2009 – Drake Levin, American guitarist (b. 1946)
  • 2009 – Steve McNair, American football player (b. 1973)
  • 2009 – Lasse Strömstedt, Swedish author and actor (b. 1935)
  • 2009 – Jean-Baptiste Tati Loutard, Congolese poet and politician (b. 1938)
  • 2010 – Robert Neil Butler, American physician and author (b. 1927)
  • 2012 – Hiren Bhattacharyya, Indian poet and author (b. 1932)
  • 2012 – Jimmy Bivins, American boxer (b. 1919)
  • 2012 – Jeong Min-hyeong, South Korean footballer (b. 1987)
  • 2012 – Eric Sykes, English actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1923)
  • 2013 – Onllwyn Brace, Welsh rugby player and sportscaster (b. 1932)
  • 2013 – Jack Crompton, English footballer and manager (b. 1921)
  • 2013 – James Fulton, American dermatologist and academic (b. 1940)
  • 2013 – Charles A. Hines, American general (b. 1935)
  • 2013 – Bernie Nolan, Irish singer (b. 1960)
  • 2014 – Giorgio Faletti, Italian author, screenwriter, and actor (b. 1950)
  • 2014 – C. J. Henderson, American author and critic (b. 1951)
  • 2014 – Earl Robinson, American baseball player (b. 1936)
  • 2014 – Richard Mellon Scaife, American businessman (b. 1932)
  • 2015 – Nedelcho Beronov, Bulgarian judge and politician (b. 1928)
  • 2015 – William Conrad Gibbons, American historian, author, and academic (b. 1926)
  • 2016 – Abbas Kiarostami, Iranian film director, screenwriter, poet, and photographer (b. 1940)
  • 2017 – John Blackwell, American R&B, funk, and jazz drummer (b. 1973)
  • 2017 – Daniil Granin, Soviet and Russian author (b. 1919)
  • 2018 – Henri Dirickx, Belgian footballer (b. 1927)
  • 2018 – Robby Müller, Dutch cinematographer (b. 1940)

Holidays and observances on July 4

  • Christian feast day:
    • Andrew of Crete
    • Bertha of Artois
    • Blessed Catherine Jarrige
    • Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati
    • Elizabeth of Aragon (or of Portugal)
    • Oda of Canterbury
    • Ulrich of Augsburg
    • July 4 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Birthday of Queen Sonja (Norway)
  • The first evening of Dree Festival, celebrated until July 7 (Apatani people, Arunachal Pradesh, India)
  • Independence Day, celebrates the Declaration of Independence of the United States from Great Britain in 1776. (United States and its dependencies)
  • Liberation Day (Northern Mariana Islands)
  • Liberation Day (Rwanda)
  • Republic Day (Philippines)

July 4 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

July 2 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

This day is the midpoint of a common year because there are 182 days before and 182 days after it in common years, and 183 before and 182 after in leap years. The exact time of the middle of the year is at noon. In countries that use summertime the actual exact time of the midpoint in a common year is at 1:00 p.m for locations in the northern hemisphere or 11:00 a.m for locations in the southern hemisphere; this is when 182 days and 12 hours have elapsed and there are 182 days and 12 hours remaining. In a leap year in those countries, the middle of the year is at midnight. In countries that use summer time, the midpoint occurs at 1:00 a.m. on July 2, or 11:00 p.m. on July 1 in the southern hemisphere. This is due to summertime having advanced the time by one hour. It falls on the same day of the week as New Year’s Day in common years.

  • 437 – Emperor Valentinian III begins his reign over the Western Roman Empire. His mother Galla Placidia ends her regency, but continues to exercise political influence at the court in Rome.
  • 626 – Li Shimin, the future Emperor Taizong of Tang, ambushes and kills his rival brothers Li Yuanji and Li Jiancheng in the Xuanwu Gate Incident.
  • 706 – In China, Emperor Zhongzong of Tang inters the bodies of relatives in the Qianling Mausoleum, located on Mount Liang outside Chang’an.
  • 866 – Battle of Brissarthe: The Franks led by Robert the Strong are defeated by a joint Breton-Viking army.
  • 936 – King Henry the Fowler dies in his royal palace in Memleben. He is succeeded by his son Otto I, who becomes the ruler of East Francia.
  • 963 – The Byzantine army proclaims Nikephoros II Phokas Emperor of the Romans on the plains outside Cappadocian Caesarea.
  • 1298 – The Battle of Göllheim is fought between Albert I of Habsburg and Adolf of Nassau-Weilburg.
  • 1494 – The Treaty of Tordesillas is ratified by Spain.
  • 1504 – Bogdan III the One-Eyed becomes Voivode of Moldavia.
  • 1555 – Ottoman Admiral Turgut Reis sacks the Italian city of Paola.
  • 1561 – Menas, emperor of Ethiopia, defeats a revolt in Emfraz.
  • 1582 – Battle of Yamazaki: Toyotomi Hideyoshi defeats Akechi Mitsuhide.
  • 1613 – The first English expedition (from Virginia) against Acadia led by Samuel Argall takes place.
  • 1644 – English Civil War: Battle of Marston Moor.
  • 1645 – Battle of Alford: Wars of the Three Kingdoms.
  • 1698 – Thomas Savery patents the first steam engine.
  • 1776 – American Revolution: The Continental Congress adopts a resolution severing ties with the Kingdom of Great Britain although the wording of the formal Declaration of Independence is not published until July 4.
  • 1816 – The French frigate Méduse strikes the Bank of Arguin and 151 people on board have to be evacuated on an improvised raft, a case immortalised by Géricault’s painting The Raft of the Medusa.
  • 1822 – Thirty-five slaves, including Denmark Vesey, are hanged in South Carolina after being accused of organizing a slave rebellion.
  • 1823 – Bahia Independence Day: The end of Portuguese rule in Brazil, with the final defeat of the Portuguese crown loyalists in the province of Bahia.
  • 1839 – Twenty miles off the coast of Cuba, 53 kidnapped Africans led by Joseph Cinqué mutiny and take over the slave ship Amistad.
  • 1853 – The Russian Army crosses the Pruth river into the Danubian Principalities, Moldavia and Wallachia—providing the spark that will set off the Crimean War.
  • 1871 – Victor Emmanuel II of Italy enters Rome after having conquered it from the Papal States.
  • 1881 – Charles J. Guiteau shoots and fatally wounds U.S. President James A. Garfield (who will die of complications from his wounds on September 19).
  • 1890 – The U.S. Congress passes the Sherman Antitrust Act.
  • 1897 – British-Italian engineer Guglielmo Marconi obtains a patent for radio in London.
  • 1900 – The first Zeppelin flight takes place on Lake Constance near Friedrichshafen, Germany.
  • 1900 – Jean Sibelius’ Finlandia receives its première performance in Helsinki with the Helsinki Philharmonic Society conducted by Robert Kajanus.
  • 1921 – World War I: U.S. President Warren G. Harding signs the Knox–Porter Resolution formally ending the war between the United States and Germany.
  • 1934 – The Night of the Long Knives ends with the death of Ernst Röhm.
  • 1937 – Amelia Earhart and navigator Fred Noonan are last heard from over the Pacific Ocean while attempting to make the first equatorial round-the-world flight.
  • 1940 – Indian independence leader Subhas Chandra Bose is arrested and detained in Calcutta.
  • 1940 – The SS Arandora Star is sunk by U-47 in the North Atlantic with the loss of over 800 lives, mostly civilians.
  • 1962 – The first Walmart store, then known as Wal-Mart, opens for business in Rogers, Arkansas.
  • 1964 – Civil rights movement: U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1964 meant to prohibit segregation in public places.
  • 1966 – France conducts its first nuclear weapon test in the Pacific, on Moruroa Atoll.
  • 1976 – End of South Vietnam; Communist North Vietnam annexes the former South Vietnam to form the unified Socialist Republic of Vietnam.
  • 1986 – Rodrigo Rojas and Carmen Gloria Quintana are burnt alive during a street demonstration against the dictatorship of General Augusto Pinochet in Chile.
  • 1990 – In the 1990 Mecca tunnel tragedy, 1,400 Muslim pilgrims are suffocated to death and trampled upon in a pedestrian tunnel leading to the holy city of Mecca.
  • 1994 – USAir Flight 1016 crashes near Charlotte Douglas International Airport, killing 37 of the 57 people on board.
  • 1997 – The Bank of Thailand floats the baht, triggering the Asian financial crisis.
  • 2000 – Vicente Fox Quesada is elected the first President of México from an opposition party, the Partido Acción Nacional, after more than 70 years of continuous rule by the Partido Revolucionario Institucional.
  • 2001 – The AbioCor self-contained artificial heart is first implanted.
  • 2002 – Steve Fossett becomes the first person to fly solo around the world nonstop in a balloon.
  • 2005 – The Live 8 benefit concerts takes place in the G8 states and in South Africa. More than 1,000 musicians perform and are broadcast on 182 television networks and 2,000 radio networks.
  • 2008 – Colombian conflict: Íngrid Betancourt, a member of the Chamber of Representatives of Colombia, is released from captivity after being held for six and a half years by FARC.
  • 2010 – The South Kivu tank truck explosion in the Democratic Republic of the Congo kills at least 230 people.
  • 2013 – The International Astronomical Union names Pluto’s fourth and fifth moons, Kerberos and Styx.
  • 2013 – A magnitude 6.1 earthquake strikes Aceh, Indonesia, killing at least 42 people and injuring 420 others.

Births on July 2

  • 419 – Valentinian III, Roman emperor (d. 455)
  • 1363 – Maria, Queen of Sicily (d. 1401)
  • 1478 – Louis V, Elector Palatine (d. 1544)
  • 1486 – Jacopo Sansovino, Italian sculptor and architect (d. 1570)
  • 1489 – Thomas Cranmer, English archbishop, theologian, and saint (d. 1556)
  • 1492 – Elizabeth Tudor, English daughter of Henry VII of England (d. 1495)
  • 1500 – Federico Cesi (cardinal), Italian cardinal (d. 1565)
  • 1575 – Elizabeth de Vere, Countess of Derby, English noblewoman and head of state of the Isle of Man (d. 1627)
  • 1597 – Theodoor Rombouts, Flemish painter (d. 1637)
  • 1647 – Daniel Finch, 2nd Earl of Nottingham, English politician, Lord President of the Council (d. 1730)
  • 1648 – Arp Schnitger, German organ builder (d. 1719)
  • 1665 – Samuel Penhallow, English-American soldier and historian (d. 1726)
  • 1667 – Pietro Ottoboni, Italian cardinal and art collector (d. 1740)
  • 1714 – Christoph Willibald Gluck, German composer (d. 1787)
  • 1724 – Friedrich Gottlieb Klopstock, German poet and author (d. 1803)
  • 1797 – Francisco Javier Echeverría, Mexican businessman and politician. President of Mexico (1841) (d. 1852)
  • 1819 – Charles-Louis Hanon, French pianist and composer (d. 1900)
  • 1820 – George Law Curry, American publisher and politician, 5th Governor of the Oregon Territory (d. 1878)
  • 1820 – Juan N. Méndez, Mexican general and interim president, 1876-1877 (d. 1894)
  • 1821 – Charles Tupper, Canadian physician and politician, 6th Prime Minister of Canada (d. 1915)
  • 1825 – Émile Ollivier, French statesman (d. 1913)
  • 1834 – Hendrick Peter Godfried Quack, Dutch economist and historian (d. 1917)
  • 1849 – Maria Theresa of Austria-Este (d. 1919)
  • 1862 – William Henry Bragg, English physicist, chemist, and mathematician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1942)
  • 1865 – Lily Braun, German author and publicist (d. 1916)
  • 1869 – Liane de Pougy, French-Swiss dancer and author (d. 1950)
  • 1876 – Harriet Brooks, Canadian physicist and academic (d. 1933)
  • 1876 – Wilhelm Cuno, German businessman and politician, Chancellor of Germany (d. 1933)
  • 1877 – Hermann Hesse, German-born Swiss poet, novelist, and painter, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1962)
  • 1877 – Rinaldo Cuneo, American artist (“the painter of San Francisco”) (d. 1939)
  • 1881 – Royal Hurlburt Weller, American lawyer and politician (d. 1929)
  • 1884 – Alfons Maria Jakob, German neurologist and author (d. 1931)
  • 1893 – Ralph Hancock, Welsh gardener and author (d. 1950)
  • 1900 – Tyrone Guthrie, English actor and director (d. 1971)
  • 1900 – Sophie Harris, English costume and scenic designer for theatre and opera (d. 1966)
  • 1902 – K. Kanapathypillai, Sri Lankan author and academic (d. 1968)
  • 1902 – Germaine Thyssens-Valentin, Dutch-French pianist (d. 1987)
  • 1903 – Alec Douglas-Home, English cricketer and politician, 66th Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1995)
  • 1903 – Olav V of Norway (d. 1991)
  • 1904 – René Lacoste, French tennis player and businessman, created the polo shirt (d. 1996)
  • 1906 – Hans Bethe, German-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2005)
  • 1906 – Károly Kárpáti, Hungarian Jewish wrestler (d. 1996)
  • 1906 – Séra Martin, French middle-distance runner (d. 1993)
  • 1908 – Thurgood Marshall, American lawyer and jurist, 32nd Solicitor General of the United States (d. 1993)
  • 1911 – Reg Parnell, English race car driver and manager (d. 1964)
  • 1913 – Max Beloff, Baron Beloff, English historian and academic (d. 1999)
  • 1914 – Frederick Fennell, American conductor and educator (d. 2004)
  • 1914 – Ethelreda Leopold, American actress (d. 1988)
  • 1914 – Mário Schenberg, Brazilian physicist and engineer (d. 1990)
  • 1914 – Erich Topp, German admiral (d. 2005)
  • 1915 – Valerian Wellesley, 8th Duke of Wellington, British peer, politician and soldier (d. 2014)
  • 1916 – Ken Curtis, American actor and singer (d. 1991)
  • 1916 – Hans-Ulrich Rudel, German colonel and pilot (d. 1982)
  • 1916 – Reino Kangasmäki, Finnish wrestler (d. 2010)
  • 1916 – Zélia Gattai, Brazilian author and photographer (d. 2008)
  • 1917 – Leonard J. Arrington, American author and academic, founded the Mormon History Association (d. 1999)
  • 1918 – Athos Bulcão, Brazilian painter and sculptor (d. 2008)
  • 1918 – Indumati Bhattacharya, Indian politician
  • 1919 – Jean Craighead George, American author (d. 2012)
  • 1920 – John Kneubuhl, Samoan-American historian, screenwriter, and playwright (d. 1992)
  • 1922 – Pierre Cardin, Italian-French fashion designer
  • 1922 – Paula Valenska, Czech actress
  • 1923 – Cyril M. Kornbluth, American soldier and author (d. 1958)
  • 1923 – Wisława Szymborska, Polish poet and translator, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2012)
  • 1925 – Medgar Evers, American soldier and activist (d. 1963)
  • 1925 – Patrice Lumumba, Congolese politician, 1st Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (d. 1961)
  • 1925 – Marvin Rainwater, American singer-songwriter (d. 2013)
  • 1926 – Octavian Paler, Romanian journalist and politician (d. 2007)
  • 1927 – Lee Allen, American saxophone player (d. 1994)
  • 1927 – James Mackay, Baron Mackay of Clashfern, Scottish lawyer and politician, Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain
  • 1927 – Brock Peters, American actor (d. 2005)
  • 1929 – Imelda Marcos, Filipino politician; 10th First Lady of the Philippines
  • 1930 – Carlos Menem, Argentinian lawyer and politician, 50th President of Argentina
  • 1931 – Mohammad Yazdi, Iranian cleric
  • 1932 – Dave Thomas, American businessman and philanthropist, founded Wendy’s (d. 2002)
  • 1933 – Peter Desbarats, Canadian journalist, author, and playwright
  • 1933 – Kenny Wharram, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 2017)
  • 1934 – Tom Springfield, English musician
  • 1935 – Gilbert Kalish, American pianist and educator
  • 1936 – Omar Suleiman, Egyptian general and politician, 16th Vice President of Egypt (d. 2012)
  • 1937 – Polly Holliday, American actress
  • 1937 – Richard Petty, American race car driver and sportscaster
  • 1938 – David Owen, English physician and politician, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
  • 1939 – Alexandros Panagoulis, Greek poet and politician (d. 1976)
  • 1939 – John H. Sununu, American engineer and politician, 14th White House Chief of Staff
  • 1939 – Paul Williams, American singer and choreographer (d. 1973)
  • 1940 – Kenneth Clarke, English politician, Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain
  • 1941 – William Guest, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 2015)
  • 1941 – Wendell Mottley, Trinidadian sprinter, economist, and politician
  • 1942 – John Eekelaar, South African-English lawyer and scholar
  • 1942 – Vicente Fox, Mexican businessman and politician, 35th President of Mexico (2000-2006)
  • 1943 – Ivi Eenmaa, Estonian politician, 36th Mayor of Tallinn
  • 1943 – Larry Lake, American-Canadian trumpet player and composer (d. 2013)
  • 1946 – Richard Axel, American neuroscientist and biologist, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1946 – Ron Silver, American actor, director, and political activist (d. 2009)
  • 1947 – Larry David, American actor, comedian, producer, and screenwriter
  • 1947 – Ann Taylor, Baroness Taylor of Bolton, English politician, Minister for International Security Strategy
  • 1948 – Mutula Kilonzo, Kenyan lawyer and politician (d. 2013)
  • 1949 – Greg Brown, American musician
  • 1949 – Robert Paquette, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1950 – Lynne Brindley, English librarian and academic
  • 1950 – Jon Trickett, English politician
  • 1952 – Sylvia Rivera, American transgender rights activist (d. 2002)
  • 1952 – Anatoliy Solomin, Ukrainian race walker and coach
  • 1954 – Chris Huhne, English journalist and politician, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change
  • 1955 – Kim Carr, Australian educator and politician, 31st Australian Minister for Human Services
  • 1956 – Jerry Hall, American model and actress
  • 1957 – Bret Hart, Canadian wrestler
  • 1957 – Jüri Raidla, Estonian lawyer and politician, Estonian Minister of Justice
  • 1957 – Purvis Short, American basketball player
  • 1958 – Pavan Malhotra, Indian actor
  • 1960 – Maria Lourdes Sereno, Filipino lawyer and jurist, 24th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines
  • 1961 – Clark Kellogg, American basketball player and sportscaster
  • 1962 – Neil Williams, English cricketer (d. 2006)
  • 1964 – Jose Canseco, Cuban-American baseball player and mixed martial artist
  • 1964 – Ozzie Canseco, Cuban-American baseball player, coach, and manager
  • 1964 – Joe Magrane, American baseball player and sportscaster
  • 1964 – Alan Tait, English-Scottish rugby player and coach
  • 1965 – Norbert Röttgen, German lawyer and politician
  • 1969 – Tim Rodber, English rugby player
  • 1970 – Derrick Adkins, American hurdler
  • 1970 – Steve Morrow, Northern Irish footballer and manager
  • 1971 – Troy Brown, American football player and actor
  • 1971 – Bryan Redpath, Scottish rugby player and coach
  • 1972 – Darren Shan, English author
  • 1974 – Sean Casey, American baseball player and sportscaster
  • 1975 – Éric Dazé, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1975 – Kristen Michal, Estonian lawyer and politician
  • 1975 – Erik Ohlsson, Swedish singer and guitarist
  • 1975 – Stefan Terblanche, South African rugby player
  • 1976 – Krisztián Lisztes, Hungarian footballer
  • 1976 – Tomáš Vokoun, Czech-American ice hockey player
  • 1977 – Deniz Barış, Turkish footballer
  • 1978 – Jüri Ratas, Estonian politician, 42nd Mayor of Tallinn
  • 1979 – Walter Davis, American triple jumper
  • 1979 – Ahmed al-Ghamdi, Saudi Arabian terrorist, hijacker of United Airlines Flight 175 (d. 2001)
  • 1979 – Sam Hornish Jr., American race car driver
  • 1979 – Joe Thornton, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1980 – Nyjer Morgan, American baseball player
  • 1981 – Nathan Ellington, English footballer
  • 1981 – Carlos Rogers, American football player
  • 1983 – Michelle Branch, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1983 – Kyle Hogg, English cricketer
  • 1984 – Thomas Kortegaard, Danish footballer
  • 1984 – Johnny Weir, American figure skater
  • 1985 – Rhett Bomar, American football player
  • 1985 – Chad Henne, American football player
  • 1985 – Ashley Tisdale, American actress, singer, and producer
  • 1986 – Brett Cecil, American baseball player
  • 1986 – Lindsay Lohan, American actress and singer
  • 1987 – Esteban Granero, Spanish footballer
  • 1988 – Lee Chung-yong, South Korean footballer
  • 1989 – Nadezhda Grishaeva, Russian basketball player
  • 1989 – Alex Morgan, American soccer player
  • 1990 – Kayla Harrison, American judoka
  • 1990 – Merritt Mathias, American soccer player
  • 1990 – Morag McLellan, Scottish field hockey player
  • 1990 – Margot Robbie, Australian actress and producer
  • 1990 – Danny Rose, English footballer
  • 1990 – Bill Tupou, New Zealand rugby league player
  • 1992 – Madison Chock, American ice dancer
  • 1993 – Vince Staples, American rapper and actor
  • 1994 – Henrik Kristoffersen, Norwegian skier
  • 1995 – Ryan Murphy, American swimmer
  • 1996 – Julia Grabher, Austrian tennis player

Deaths on July 2

  • 626 – Li Jiancheng, Chinese prince (b. 589)
  • 626 – Li Yuanji, Chinese prince (b. 603)
  • 649 – Li Jing, Chinese general (b. 571)
  • 862 – Swithun, English bishop and saint (b. 789)
  • 866 – Robert the Strong, Frankish nobleman
  • 936 – Henry the Fowler, German king (b. 876)
  • 1215 – Eisai, Japanese Buddhist priest (b. 1141)
  • 1298 – Adolf of Germany (b. 1220)
  • 1504 – Stephen III of Moldavia (b. 1434)
  • 1566 – Nostradamus, French astrologer and author (b. 1503)
  • 1578 – Thomas Doughty, English explorer
  • 1582 – Akechi Mitsuhide, Japanese samurai and warlord (b. 1528)
  • 1591 – Vincenzo Galilei, Italian lute player and composer (b. 1520)
  • 1619 – Francis II, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg (b. 1547)
  • 1621 – Thomas Harriot, English astronomer, mathematician, and ethnographer (b. 1560)
  • 1656 – François-Marie, comte de Broglie, Italian-French general (b. 1611)
  • 1674 – Eberhard III, Duke of Württemberg (b. 1614)
  • 1743 – Spencer Compton, 1st Earl of Wilmington, English lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1673)
  • 1746 – Thomas Baker, English antiquarian and author (b. 1656)
  • 1778 – Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Swiss philosopher and composer (b. 1712)
  • 1833 – Gervasio Antonio de Posadas, Argentinian lawyer and politician, 1st Supreme Director of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata (b. 1757)
  • 1843 – Samuel Hahnemann, German physician and academic (b. 1755)
  • 1850 – Robert Peel, English lieutenant and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (b. 1788)
  • 1857 – Carlo Pisacane, Italian soldier and philosopher (b. 1818)
  • 1903 – Ed Delahanty, American baseball player (b. 1867)
  • 1912 – Tom Richardson, English cricketer (b. 1870)
  • 1914 – Joseph Chamberlain, English businessman and politician, Secretary of State for the Colonies (b. 1836)
  • 1915 – Porfirio Díaz, Mexican general and politician, 29th President of Mexico (b. 1830)
  • 1920 – William Louis Marshall, American general and engineer (b. 1846)
  • 1926 – Émile Coué, French psychologist and pharmacist (b. 1857)
  • 1929 – Gladys Brockwell, American actress (b. 1894)
  • 1932 – Manuel II of Portugal (b. 1889)
  • 1950 – Thomas William Burgess, English swimmer and water polo player (b. 1872)
  • 1955 – Edward Lawson, English soldier, Victoria Cross recipient (b. 1873)
  • 1961 – Ernest Hemingway, American novelist, short story writer, and journalist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1899)
  • 1963 – Alicia Patterson, American publisher, co-founded Newsday (b. 1906)
  • 1964 – Fireball Roberts, American race car driver (b. 1929)
  • 1966 – Jan Brzechwa, Polish poet and author (b. 1900)
  • 1970 – Jessie Street, Australian suffragette and feminist (b. 1889)
  • 1972 – Joseph Fielding Smith, American religious leader, 10th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (b. 1876)
  • 1973 – Betty Grable, American actress, singer, and dancer (b. 1916)
  • 1973 – George McBride, American baseball player and manager (b. 1880)
  • 1973 – Ferdinand Schörner, German field marshal (b. 1892)
  • 1975 – James Robertson Justice, English actor (b. 1907)
  • 1977 – Vladimir Nabokov, Russian-born novelist and critic (b. 1899)
  • 1978 – Aris Alexandrou, Greek author and poet (b. 1922)
  • 1986 – Peanuts Lowrey, American baseball player and manager (b. 1917)
  • 1988 – Vibert Douglas, Canadian astronomer and astrophysicist (b. 1894)
  • 1989 – Andrei Gromyko, Soviet economist and politician, Soviet Minister of Foreign Affairs (b. 1909)
  • 1990 – Snooky Lanson, American singer (b. 1914)
  • 1991 – Lee Remick, American actress (b. 1935)
  • 1993 – Fred Gwynne, American actor (b. 1926)
  • 1994 – Andrés Escobar, Colombian footballer (b. 1967)
  • 1995 – Lloyd MacPhail, Canadian businessman and politician, 23rd Lieutenant Governor of Prince Edward Island (b. 1920)
  • 1997 – James Stewart, American actor (b. 1908)
  • 1999 – Mario Puzo, American author and screenwriter (b. 1920)
  • 2000 – Joey Dunlop, Northern Irish motorcycle racer (b. 1952)
  • 2002 – Ray Brown, American bassist and composer (b. 1926)
  • 2003 – Briggs Cunningham, American race car driver and businessman (b. 1907)
  • 2004 – Mochtar Lubis, Indonesian journalist and author (b. 1922)
  • 2005 – Ernest Lehman, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1915)
  • 2005 – Norm Prescott, American actor, composer, and producer, co-founded Filmation Studios (b. 1927)
  • 2006 – Jan Murray, American comedian, actor, and game show host (b. 1916)
  • 2007 – Beverly Sills, American operatic soprano and television personality (b. 1929)
  • 2008 – Natasha Shneider, Russian-American singer, keyboard player, and actress (b. 1956)
  • 2008 – Elizabeth Spriggs, English actress and screenwriter (b. 1929)
  • 2010 – Beryl Bainbridge, English screenwriter and author (b. 1932)
  • 2011 – Itamar Franco, Brazilian engineer and politician, 33rd President of Brazil (b. 1930)
  • 2012 – Maurice Chevit, French actor and screenwriter (b. 1923)
  • 2012 – Julian Goodman, American journalist (b. 1922)
  • 2012 – Angelo Mangiarotti, Italian architect and academic (b. 1921)
  • 2012 – Betty Meggers, American archaeologist and academic (b. 1921)
  • 2012 – Ed Stroud, American baseball player (b. 1939)
  • 2013 – Anthony G. Bosco, American bishop (b. 1927)
  • 2013 – Douglas Engelbart, American computer scientist, invented the computer mouse (b. 1925)
  • 2013 – Armand Gaudreault, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1921)
  • 2013 – Anthony Llewellyn, Welsh-American chemist, academic, and astronaut (b. 1933)
  • 2014 – Emilio Álvarez Montalván, Nicaraguan ophthalmologist and politician (b. 1919)
  • 2014 – Manuel Cardona, Spanish physicist and academic (b. 1934)
  • 2014 – Mary Innes-Ker, Duchess of Roxburghe (b. 1915)
  • 2014 – Harold W. Kuhn, American mathematician and academic (b. 1925)
  • 2014 – Louis Zamperini, American runner and World War II US Army Air Forces captain (b. 1917)
  • 2015 – Ronald Davison, New Zealand lawyer and judge, 10th Chief Justice of New Zealand (b. 1920)
  • 2015 – Charlie Sanders, American football player and sportscaster (b. 1946)
  • 2015 – Jim Weaver, American football player and coach (b. 1945)
  • 2015 – Jacobo Zabludovsky, Mexican journalist (b. 1928)
  • 2016 – Caroline Aherne, English actress and comedian (b. 1963)
  • 2016 – Michael Cimino, American director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1939)
  • 2016 – Patrick Manning, 4th & 6th Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago (b. 1946)
  • 2016 – Elie Wiesel, Holocaust survivor, activist, and author (b. 1928)
  • 2020 – Ángela Jeria, Chilean archaeologist (b. 1926)
  • 2020 – Byron Bernstein Reckful, gamer, Twitch streamer, investor (b. 1989)

Holidays and observances on July 2

  • Christian feast day:
    • Aberoh and Atom (Coptic Church)
    • Bernardino Realino
    • Feast of the Visitation (Anglicanism; Levoča at Mariánska hora)
    • Monegundis
    • Otto of Bamberg
    • Oudoceus
    • Martinian and Processus
    • Pishoy (Coptic Church)
    • Stephen III of Moldavia
    • July 2 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Earliest day on which Unity Day can fall, while July 8 is the latest; celebrated on Tuesday following Heroes’ Day. (Zambia)
  • Flag Day (Curaçao)
  • Palio di Provenzano (Siena, Italy)
  • Police Day (Azerbaijan)

July 2 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

June 30 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

  • 296 – Pope Marcellinus begins his papacy.
  • 763 – The Byzantine army of emperor Constantine V defeats the Bulgarian forces in the Battle of Anchialus.
  • 1422 – Battle of Arbedo between the duke of Milan and the Swiss cantons.
  • 1521 – Spanish forces defeat a combined French and Navarrese army at the Battle of Noáin during the Spanish conquest of Iberian Navarre.
  • 1559 – King Henry II of France is mortally wounded in a jousting match against Gabriel, comte de Montgomery.
  • 1651 – The Deluge: Khmelnytsky Uprising: The Battle of Berestechko ends with a Polish victory.
  • 1688 – The Immortal Seven issue the Invitation to William, which would culminate in the Glorious Revolution.
  • 1758 – Seven Years’ War: Habsburg Austrian forces destroy a Prussian reinforcement and supply convoy in the Battle of Domstadtl, helping to expel Prussian King Frederick the Great from Moravia.
  • 1794 – Northwest Indian War: Native American forces under Blue Jacket attack Fort Recovery.
  • 1805 – Under An act to divide the Indiana Territory into two separate governments, adopted by the U.S. Congress on January 11, 1805, the Michigan Territory is organized.
  • 1859 – French acrobat Charles Blondin crosses Niagara Falls on a tightrope.
  • 1860 – The 1860 Oxford evolution debate at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History takes place.
  • 1864 – U.S. President Abraham Lincoln grants Yosemite Valley to California for “public use, resort and recreation”.
  • 1882 – Charles J. Guiteau is hanged in Washington, D.C. for the assassination of U.S. President James Garfield.
  • 1886 – The first transcontinental train trip across Canada departs from Montreal, Quebec. It arrives in Port Moody, British Columbia on July 4.
  • 1892 – The Homestead Strike begins near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
  • 1905 – Albert Einstein sends the article On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies, in which he introduces special relativity, for publication in Annalen der Physik.
  • 1906 – The United States Congress passes the Meat Inspection Act and Pure Food and Drug Act.
  • 1908 – The Tunguska Event, the largest impact event on Earth in human recorded history, resulting in a massive explosion over Eastern Siberia.
  • 1912 – The Regina Cyclone, Canada’s deadliest tornado event, kills 28 people in Regina, Saskatchewan.
  • 1916 – World War I: In “the day Sussex died”, elements of the Royal Sussex Regiment take heavy casualties in the Battle of the Boar’s Head at Richebourg-l’Avoué in France.
  • 1921 – U.S. President Warren G. Harding appoints former President William Howard Taft as Chief Justice of the United States.
  • 1922 – In Washington D.C., U.S. Secretary of State Charles Evans Hughes and Dominican Ambassador Francisco J. Peynado sign the Hughes–Peynado agreement, which ends the United States occupation of the Dominican Republic.
  • 1934 – The Night of the Long Knives, Adolf Hitler’s violent purge of his political rivals in Germany, takes place.
  • 1936 – Emperor Haile Selassie of Abyssinia appeals for aid to the League of Nations against Italy’s invasion of his country.
  • 1937 – The world’s first emergency telephone number, 999, is introduced in London.
  • 1944 – World War II: The Battle of Cherbourg ends with the fall of the strategically valuable port to American forces.
  • 1953 – The first Chevrolet Corvette rolls off the assembly line in Flint, Michigan.
  • 1956 – A TWA Super Constellation and a United Airlines DC-7 collide above the Grand Canyon in Arizona and crash, killing all 128 on board both airliners.
  • 1959 – A United States Air Force F-100 Super Sabre from Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, crashes into a nearby elementary school, killing 11 students plus six residents from the local neighborhood.
  • 1960 – Belgian Congo gains independence as Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville).
  • 1963 – Ciaculli bombing: a car bomb, intended for Mafia boss Salvatore Greco, kills seven police officers and military personnel near Palermo.
  • 1966 – The National Organization for Women, the United States’ largest feminist organization, is founded.
  • 1968 – Pope Paul VI issues the Credo of the People of God.
  • 1971 – The crew of the Soviet Soyuz 11 spacecraft are killed when their air supply escapes through a faulty valve.
  • 1972 – The first leap second is added to the UTC time system.
  • 1974 – The Baltimore municipal strike of 1974 begins.
  • 1977 – The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization disbands.
  • 1985 – Thirty-nine American hostages from the hijacked TWA Flight 847 are freed in Beirut after being held for 17 days.
  • 1986 – The U.S. Supreme Court rules in Bowers v. Hardwick that states can outlaw homosexual acts between consenting adults.
  • 1990 – East Germany and West Germany merge their economies.
  • 1994 – During a test flight of an Airbus A330-300 at Toulouse–Blagnac Airport, the aircraft crashes killing all seven people on board.
  • 1997 – The United Kingdom transfers sovereignty over Hong Kong to China.
  • 2005 – MTV Canada is rebranded as Razer
  • 2007 – A Jeep Cherokee filled with propane canisters drives into the entrance of Glasgow Airport, Scotland in a failed terrorist attack. This was linked to the 2007 London car bombs that had taken place the day before.
  • 2009 – Yemenia Flight 626, an Airbus A310-300, crashes into the Indian Ocean near Comoros, killing 152 of the 153 people on board. A 14-year-old girl named Bahia Bakari survives the crash.
  • 2013 – Nineteen firefighters die controlling a wildfire in Yarnell, Arizona.
  • 2013 – Protests begin around Egypt against President Mohamed Morsi and the ruling Freedom and Justice Party, leading to their overthrow during the 2013 Egyptian coup d’état.
  • 2015 – A Hercules C-130 military aircraft with 113 people on board crashes in a residential area in Medan, Indonesia, resulting in at least 116 deaths.
  • 2019 – Donald Trump becomes the first sitting US President to visit the Democratic Republic of Korea.

Births on June 30

  • 1286 – John de Warenne, 7th Earl of Surrey, English magnate (d. 1347)
  • 1468 – John, Elector of Saxony (d. 1532)
  • 1470 – Charles VIII of France (d. 1498)
  • 1478 – John, Prince of Asturias, Son of Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile (d. 1497)
  • 1503 – John Frederick I, Elector of Saxony (d. 1554)
  • 1533 – Martín de Rada, Spanish missionary (d. 1578)
  • 1588 – Giovanni Maria Sabino, Italian organist, composer, and educator (d. 1649)
  • 1641 – Meinhardt Schomberg, 3rd Duke of Schomberg, German-English general (d. 1719)
  • 1685 – John Gay, English poet and playwright (d. 1732)
  • 1688 – Abu l-Hasan Ali I, ruler of Tunisia (d. 1756)
  • 1722 – Jiří Antonín Benda, Czech composer, violinist and Kapellmeister (d. 1795)
  • 1755 – Paul Barras, French soldier and politician (d. 1829)
  • 1789 – Horace Vernet, French painter and academic (d. 1863)
  • 1791 – Félix Savart, French physicist and psychologist (d. 1841)
  • 1803 – Thomas Lovell Beddoes, English poet, playwright, and physician (d. 1849)
  • 1807 – Friedrich Theodor Vischer, German author, poet, and playwright (d.1887)
  • 1817 – Joseph Dalton Hooker, English botanist and explorer (d. 1911)
  • 1843 – Ernest Mason Satow, English orientalist and diplomat (d. 1929)
  • 1864 – Frederick Bligh Bond, English architect and archaeologist (d. 1945)
  • 1884 – Georges Duhamel, French author and critic (d. 1966)
  • 1889 – Archibald Frazer-Nash, English motor car designer, engineer and founder of Frazer Nash (d. 1965)
  • 1890 – Paul Boffa, Maltese physician and politician, 5th Prime Minister of Malta (d. 1962)
  • 1891 – Man Mountain Dean, American wrestler and sergeant (d. 1953)
  • 1891 – Ed Lewis, American wrestler and manager (d. 1966)
  • 1891 – Stanley Spencer, English painter (d. 1959)
  • 1892 – Pierre Blanchar, Algerian-French actor and director (d. 1963)
  • 1893 – Walter Ulbricht, German soldier and politician (d. 1973)
  • 1895 – Heinz Warneke, German-American sculptor and educator (d. 1983)
  • 1899 – Madge Bellamy, American actress (d. 1990)
  • 1905 – John Van Ryn, American tennis player (d. 1999)
  • 1906 – Anthony Mann, American actor and director (d. 1967)
  • 1907 – Roman Shukhevych, Ukrainian general and politician (d. 1950)
  • 1908 – Winston Graham, English author (d. 2003)
  • 1908 – Luigi Rovere, Italian film producer (d. 1996)
  • 1908 – Rob Nieuwenhuys, Dutch writer (d. 1999)
  • 1909 – Juan Bosch, 43rd President of the Dominican Republic (d. 2001)
  • 1911 – Czesław Miłosz, Polish novelist, essayist, and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2004)
  • 1911 – Nagarjun, Indian poet (d. 1998)
  • 1912 – Ludwig Bölkow, German engineer (d. 2003)
  • 1912 – Dan Reeves, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 1971)
  • 1912 – María Luisa Dehesa Gómez Farías, Mexican architect (d. 2009)
  • 1913 – Alfonso López Michelsen, Colombian lawyer and politician, 24th President of Colombia (d. 2007)
  • 1913 – Harry Wismer, American sportscaster (d. 1967)
  • 1914 – Francisco da Costa Gomes, Portuguese general and politician, 15th President of Portugal (d. 2001)
  • 1914 – Allan Houser, American sculptor and painter (d. 1994)
  • 1917 – Susan Hayward, American actress (d. 1975)
  • 1917 – Lena Horne, American actress, singer, and activist (d. 2010)
  • 1917 – Willa Kim, American costume designer (d. 2016)
  • 1919 – Ed Yost, American inventor of the modern hot air balloon (d. 2007)
  • 1920 – Eleanor Ross Taylor, American poet and educator (d. 2011)
  • 1921 – Washington SyCip, American-Filipino accountant (d. 2017)
  • 1922 – Al Besselink, American professional golfer
  • 1923 – Andy Jack, English footballer
  • 1924 – Max Trepp, Swiss sprinter
  • 1925 – Fred Schaus, American basketball player and coach (d. 2010)
  • 1925 – Ebrahim Amini, Iranian politician (d. 2020)
  • 1926 – Paul Berg, American biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1926 – David Berglas, American magician and mentalist
  • 1927 – Shirley Fry Irvin, American tennis player
  • 1927 – James Goldman, American screenwriter and playwright (d. 1998)
  • 1927 – Mario Lanfranchi, Italian director, screenwriter, producer, collector and actor
  • 1927 – Frank McCabe, American basketball player
  • 1928 – Hassan Hassanzadeh Amoli, Islamic philosopher, theologian, mathematician and mystic
  • 1928 – Nathaniel Tarn, American poet, essayist, anthropologist, and translator
  • 1929 – Yang Ti-liang, Chinese judge
  • 1930 – Ben Atchley, American politician (d. 2018)
  • 1930 – Ahmed Zaki Yamani, Saudi Arabian politician
  • 1930 – Ignatius Peter VIII Abdalahad, Syrian bishop (d. 2018)
  • 1931 – Yo-Yo Davalillo, Venezuelan baseball player and manager (d. 2013)
  • 1931 – Andrew Hill, American pianist and composer (d. 2007)
  • 1931 – Ronald Rene Lagueux, American judge
  • 1931 – Kaye Vaughan, American football player
  • 1933 – Tomislav Ivić, Croatian football coach and manager (d. 2011)
  • 1933 – M. J. K. Smith, English cricketer and rugby player
  • 1933 – Orval Tessier, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
  • 1933 – Joan Murrell Owens, American educator and marine biologist (d. 2011)
  • 1934 – Harry Blackstone Jr., American magician and author (d. 1997)
  • 1935 – John Harlin, American pilot and mountaineer (d. 1966)
  • 1936 – Assia Djebar, Algerian-French author and translator (d. 2015)
  • 1936 – Nancy Dussault, American actress and singer
  • 1936 – Tony Musante, American actor and screenwriter (d. 2013)
  • 1936 – Dave Van Ronk, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2002)
  • 1937 – Larry Henley, American singer-songwriter (d. 2014)
  • 1938 – Billy Mills, American sprinter
  • 1939 – Tony Hatch, English pianist, composer, and producer
  • 1939 – Barry Hines, English author and screenwriter (d. 2016)
  • 1939 – José Emilio Pacheco, Mexican poet and author (d. 2014)
  • 1940 – Mark Spoelstra, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2007)
  • 1941 – Peter Pollock, South African cricketer and author
  • 1942 – Robert Ballard, American lieutenant and oceanographer
  • 1942 – Ron Harris, Canadian ice hockey player and coach
  • 1943 – Florence Ballard, American pop/soul singer (d. 1976)
  • 1943 – Saeed Akhtar Mirza, Indian director and screenwriter
  • 1944 – Raymond Moody, American parapsychologist and author
  • 1944 – Glenn Shorrock, English-Australian singer-songwriter
  • 1944 – Ron Swoboda, American baseball player and sportscaster
  • 1949 – Uwe Kliemann, German footballer, coach, and manager
  • 1949 – Andy Scott, Welsh singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
  • 1951 – Stanley Clarke, American bass player and composer
  • 1952 – Athanassios S. Fokas, Greek mathematician and academic
  • 1952 – David Garrison, American actor and singer
  • 1953 – Hal Lindes, American-English guitarist and film score composer
  • 1954 – Stephen Barlow, English organist, composer, and conductor
  • 1954 – Pierre Charles, Dominican educator and politician, 5th Prime Minister of Dominica (d. 2004)
  • 1954 – Serzh Sargsyan, Armenian politician, 3rd President of Armenia
  • 1954 – Wayne Swan, Australian academic and politician, 14th Deputy Prime Minister of Australia
  • 1955 – Brian Vollmer, Canadian singer
  • 1955 – Egils Levits, Latvian judge, jurist, 10th President of Latvia
  • 1956 – Volker Beck, German hurdler and coach
  • 1956 – David Lidington, English historian, academic, and politician, Minister of State for Europe
  • 1956 – David Alan Grier, American actor, singer, and comedian
  • 1957 – Bud Black, American baseball player and manager
  • 1957 – Sterling Marlin, American race car driver
  • 1958 – Pam Royle, British television presenter, journalist and voice coach
  • 1958 – Esa-Pekka Salonen, Finnish conductor and composer
  • 1959 – Vincent D’Onofrio, American actor
  • 1959 – Daniel Goldhagen, American political scientist, author, and academic
  • 1959 – Brendan Perry, English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
  • 1959 – Sakis Tsiolis, Greek footballer and manager
  • 1959 – Sandip Verma, Baroness Verma, Indian-English businesswoman and politician
  • 1960 – Jack McConnell, Scottish educator and politician, 3rd First Minister of Scotland
  • 1960 – Murray Cook, Australian musician, actor, songwriter and producer
  • 1961 – Lynne Jolitz, American computer scientist and programmer
  • 1961 – Clive Nolan, English musician, composer and producer
  • 1962 – Tony Fernández, Dominican baseball player
  • 1962 – Julianne Regan, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1963 – Olha Bryzhina, Ukrainian sprinter
  • 1963 – Rupert Graves, English actor, director, and screenwriter
  • 1963 – Yngwie Malmsteen, Swedish guitarist and songwriter
  • 1964 – Alexandra, Countess of Frederiksborg
  • 1964 – Mark Waters, American director and producer
  • 1965 – Steve Duchesne, Canadian-American ice hockey player and coach
  • 1965 – Cho Jae-hyun, South Korean actor
  • 1965 – Anna Levandi, Russian figure skater and coach
  • 1965 – Gary Pallister, English footballer and sportscaster
  • 1965 – Mitch Richmond, American basketball player
  • 1966 – Mike Tyson, American boxer and actor
  • 1967 – Patrik Bodén, Swedish javelin thrower
  • 1967 – David Busst, English footballer and manager
  • 1967 – Victoria Kaspi, American-Canadian astrophysicist and academic
  • 1968 – Phil Anselmo, American singer-songwriter and producer
  • 1969 – Sanath Jayasuriya, Sri Lankan cricketer and politician
  • 1969 – Uta Rohländer, German sprinter
  • 1969 – Sébastien Rose, Canadian director and screenwriter
  • 1970 – Brian Bloom, American actor and screenwriter
  • 1970 – Antonio Chimenti, Italian footballer and manager
  • 1970 – Mark Grudzielanek, American baseball player and manager
  • 1971 – Monica Potter, American actress
  • 1972 – Sandra Cam, Belgian swimmer
  • 1973 – Chan Ho Park, South Korean baseball player
  • 1973 – Frank Rost, German footballer and manager
  • 1974 – Hezekiél Sepeng, South African runner
  • 1975 – James Bannatyne, New Zealand footballer
  • 1975 – Ralf Schumacher, German race car driver
  • 1978 – Ben Cousins, Australian footballer
  • 1978 – Patrick Ivuti, Kenyan runner
  • 1978 – Claudio Rivalta, Italian footballer
  • 1979 – Sylvain Chavanel, French cyclist
  • 1980 – Rade Prica, Swedish footballer
  • 1980 – Seyi Olofinjana, Nigerian footballer
  • 1980 – Ryan ten Doeschate, Dutch cricketer
  • 1981 – Can Artam, Turkish race car driver
  • 1981 – Matt Kirk, Canadian football player
  • 1981 – Barbora Špotáková, Czech javelin thrower
  • 1981 – Ben Utecht, American football player
  • 1982 – Lizzy Caplan, American actress
  • 1982 – Ignacio Carrasco, Mexican footballer
  • 1983 – Marcus Burghardt, German cyclist
  • 1983 – Katherine Ryan, UK-based Canadian comedian and presenter
  • 1983 – Cheryl, English singer and TV personality
  • 1984 – Fantasia Barrino, American singer-songwriter and actress
  • 1984 – Tunku Ismail Idris, Crown Prince of Johor, Malaysia
  • 1985 – Trevor Ariza, American basketball player
  • 1985 – Michael Phelps, American swimmer
  • 1985 – Fabiana Vallejos, Argentinian footballer
  • 1986 – Alicia Fox, American wrestler, model, and actress
  • 1986 – Fredy Guarín, Colombian footballer
  • 1986 – Nicola Pozzi, Italian footballer
  • 1986 – Allegra Versace, Italian-American businesswoman
  • 1987 – Ryan Cook, American baseball player
  • 1987 – Andrew Hedgman, New Zealand runner
  • 1988 – Elisa Jordana, American singer-songwriter, radio and TV personality
  • 1989 – Asbel Kiprop, Kenyan runner
  • 1989 – Steffen Liebig, German rugby player
  • 1989 – David Myers, Australian footballer
  • 1990 – N, South Korean singer
  • 1998 – Tom Davies, English footballer

Deaths on June 30

  • 350 – Nepotianus, Roman ruler
  • 710 – Erentrude, Frankish abbess
  • 888 – Æthelred, archbishop of Canterbury
  • 945 – Ki no Tsurayuki, Japanese writer and poet (b. 872)
  • 1181 – Hugh de Kevelioc, 5th Earl of Chester, Welsh politician (b. 1147)
  • 1224 – Adolf of Osnabrück, German monk and bishop (b. 1185)
  • 1278 – Pierre de la Broce, French courtier
  • 1337 – Eleanor de Clare, English noblewoman (b. 1290)
  • 1364 – Arnošt of Pardubice, Czech archbishop (b. 1297)
  • 1538 – Charles II, Duke of Guelders (b. 1467)
  • 1522 – Johann Reuchlin, German humanist and Hebrew scholar (b. 1455)
  • 1607 – Caesar Baronius, Italian cardinal and historian (b. 1538)
  • 1649 – Simon Vouet, French painter (b. 1590)
  • 1660 – William Oughtred, English minister and mathematician (b. 1575)
  • 1666 – Alexander Brome, English poet and playwright (b. 1620)
  • 1670 – Henrietta of England (b. 1644)
  • 1704 – John Quelch, English pirate (b. 1665)
  • 1708 – Tekle Haymanot I of Ethiopia (b. 1684)
  • 1709 – Edward Lhuyd, Welsh botanist, linguist, and geographer (b. 1660)
  • 1785 – James Oglethorpe, English general and politician, 1st Colonial Governor of Georgia (b. 1696)
  • 1796 – Abraham Yates Jr., American lawyer and politician (b. 1724)
  • 1857 – Alcide d’Orbigny, French zoologist and paleontologist (b. 1802)
  • 1882 – Charles J. Guiteau, American preacher and lawyer, assassin of James A. Garfield (b. 1841)
  • 1882 – Alberto Henschel, German-Brazilian photographer and businessman (b. 1827)
  • 1890 – Samuel Parkman Tuckerman, American organist and composer (b. 1819)
  • 1908 – Thomas Hill, American painter (b. 1829)
  • 1913 – Alphonse Kirchhoffer, French fencer (b. 1873)
  • 1916 – Eunice Eloisae Gibbs Allyn, American correspondent, author, and poet (b. 1847)
  • 1917 – Antonio de La Gándara, French painter and illustrator (b. 1861)
  • 1917 – Dadabhai Naoroji, Parsi intellectual, educator, cotton trader, and an early Indian political and social leader (b. 1825)
  • 1919 – John William Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh, English physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1842)
  • 1932 – Bruno Kastner, German actor, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1890)
  • 1934 – Karl Ernst, German soldier (b. 1904)
  • 1934 – Erich Klausener, German soldier and politician (b. 1885)
  • 1934 – Gustav Ritter von Kahr, German lawyer and politician, Minister-President of Bavaria (b. 1862)
  • 1934 – Gregor Strasser, German lieutenant and politician (b. 1892)
  • 1934 – Kurt von Schleicher, German general and politician, 23rd Chancellor of Germany (b. 1882)
  • 1941 – Yefim Fomin, Belarusian politician (b. 1909)
  • 1941 – Aleksander Tõnisson, Estonian general and politician, 5th Estonian Minister of War (b. 1875)
  • 1948 – Prince Sabahaddin, Turkish-Swiss sociologist and academic (b. 1879)
  • 1949 – Édouard Alphonse James de Rothschild, French financier and polo player (b. 1868)
  • 1951 – Yrjö Saarela, Finnish wrestler and coach (b. 1884)
  • 1953 – Elsa Beskow, Swedish author and illustrator (b. 1874)
  • 1953 – Charles William Miller, Brazilian footballer and civil servant (b. 1874)
  • 1954 – Andrass Samuelsen, Faroese politician, 1st Prime Minister of the Faroe Islands (b. 1873)
  • 1956 – Thorleif Lund, Norwegian actor (b. 1880)
  • 1959 – José Vasconcelos, Mexican philosopher and politician (b. 1882)
  • 1961 – Lee de Forest, American inventor, invented the audion tube (b. 1873)
  • 1966 – Giuseppe Farina, Italian race car driver (b. 1906)
  • 1966 – Margery Allingham, English author of detective fiction (b. 1904)
  • 1968 – Ernst Marcus, German zoologist (b. 1893)
  • 1971 – Georgi Asparuhov, Bulgarian footballer (b. 1943)
  • 1971 – Herbert Biberman, American director and screenwriter (b. 1900)
  • 1971 – Georgy Dobrovolsky Ukrainian pilot and astronaut (b. 1928)
  • 1971 – Nikola Kotkov, Bulgarian footballer (b. 1938)
  • 1971 – Viktor Patsayev, Kazakh engineer and astronaut (b. 1933)
  • 1971 – Vladislav Volkov, Russian engineer and astronaut (b. 1935)
  • 1973 – Nancy Mitford, English journalist and author (b. 1904)
  • 1973 – Vasyl Velychkovsky, Ukrainian-Canadian bishop and martyr (b. 1903)
  • 1974 – Alberta Williams King, Civil rights activist (b. 1904)
  • 1976 – Firpo Marberry, American baseball player and umpire (b. 1898)
  • 1984 – Lillian Hellman, American author and playwright (b. 1905)
  • 1985 – Haruo Remeliik, Palauan politician, 1st President of Palau (b. 1933)
  • 1995 – Georgy Beregovoy, Ukrainian general and astronaut (b. 1921)
  • 1995 – Gale Gordon, American actor and voice artist (b. 1906)
  • 1996 – Lakis Petropoulos, Greek footballer and manager (b. 1932)
  • 2001 – Chet Atkins, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (b. 1924)
  • 2001 – Joe Henderson, American saxophonist and composer (b. 1937)
  • 2002 – Chico Xavier, Brazilian medium and author (b. 1910)
  • 2003 – Buddy Hackett, American actor and comedian (b. 1924)
  • 2003 – Robert McCloskey, American author and illustrator (b. 1915)
  • 2004 – Eddie Burns, Australian rugby league player (b. 1916)
  • 2007 – Sahib Singh Verma, Indian librarian and politician, 4th Chief Minister of Delhi (b. 1943)
  • 2009 – Pina Bausch, German dancer, choreographer, and director (b. 1940)
  • 2009 – Harve Presnell, American actor and singer (b. 1933)
  • 2012 – Michael Abney-Hastings, 14th Earl of Loudoun, English-Australian politician (b. 1942)
  • 2012 – Yitzhak Shamir, Israeli politician, 7th Prime Minister of Israel (b. 1915)
  • 2012 – Michael J. Ybarra, American journalist and author (b. 1966)
  • 2013 – Alan Campbell, Baron Campbell of Alloway, English lawyer and judge (b. 1917)
  • 2013 – Akpor Pius Ewherido, Nigerian politician (b. 1963)
  • 2013 – Kathryn Morrison, American educator and politician (b. 1942)
  • 2013 – Thompson Oliha, Nigerian footballer (b. 1968)
  • 2013 – Keith Seaman, Australian politician, 29th Governor of South Australia (b. 1920)
  • 2014 – Frank Cashen, American businessman (b. 1925)
  • 2014 – Paul Mazursky, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1930)
  • 2014 – Željko Šturanović, Montenegrin lawyer and politician, 31st Prime Minister of Montenegro (b. 1960)
  • 2015 – Charles W. Bagnal, American general (b. 1934)
  • 2015 – Robert Dewar, English-American computer scientist and academic (b. 1945)
  • 2015 – Arthur Porter, Canadian physician and academic (b. 1956)
  • 2015 – Leonard Starr, American author and illustrator (b. 1925)
  • 2017 – Barry Norman, English television presenter (b. 1933)
  • 2017 – Simone Veil, French lawyer and politician (b. 1927)

Holidays and observances on June 30

  • Christian feast day:
    • Martial
    • Theobald of Provins
    • First Martyrs of the Church of Rome
    • June 30 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Armed Forces Day (Guatemala)
  • Asteroid Day (International observance)
  • General Prayer Day (Central African Republic)
  • Independence Day (Democratic Republic of the Congo), celebrates the independence of Democratic Republic of the Congo from Belgium in 1960.
  • Navy Day (Israel)
  • Philippine–Spanish Friendship Day (Philippines)
  • Revolution Day (Sudan)
  • Teachers’ Day (Dominican Republic)

June 30 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day Read More »

On This Day

June 29 – History, Events, Births, Deaths, Holidays and Observances On This Day

  • 226 – Cao Rui succeeds his father as emperor of the Kingdom of Wei.
  • 1149 – Raymond of Poitiers is defeated and killed at the Battle of Inab by Nur ad-Din Zangi.
  • 1194 – Sverre is crowned King of Norway, leading to his excommunication by the Catholic Church and civil war.
  • 1444 – Skanderbeg defeats an Ottoman invasion force at Torvioll.
  • 1534 – Jacques Cartier is the first European to reach Prince Edward Island.
  • 1613 – The Globe Theatre in London, built by William Shakespeare‘s playing company, the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, burns to the ground.
  • 1644 – Charles I of England defeats a Parliamentarian detachment at the Battle of Cropredy Bridge.
  • 1659 – At the Battle of Konotop the Ukrainian armies of Ivan Vyhovsky defeat the Russians led by Prince Trubetskoy.
  • 1786 – Alexander Macdonell and over five hundred Roman Catholic highlanders leave Scotland to settle in Glengarry County, Ontario.
  • 1807 – Russo-Turkish War: Admiral Dmitry Senyavin destroys the Ottoman fleet in the Battle of Athos.
  • 1850 – Autocephaly officially granted by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople to the Church of Greece.
  • 1864 – At least 99 people, mostly German and Polish immigrants, are killed in Canada’s worst railway disaster after a train fails to stop for an open drawbridge and plunges into the Rivière Richelieu near St-Hilaire, Quebec.
  • 1874 – Greek politician Charilaos Trikoupis publishes a manifesto in the Athens daily Kairoi entitled “Who’s to Blame?” leveling complaints against King George. Trikoupis is elected Prime Minister of Greece the next year.
  • 1880 – France annexes Tahiti, renaming the independent Kingdom of Tahiti as “Etablissements de français de l’Océanie”.
  • 1881 – In Sudan, Muhammad Ahmad declares himself to be the Mahdi, the messianic redeemer of Islam.
  • 1888 – George Edward Gouraud records Handel’s Israel in Egypt onto a phonograph cylinder, thought for many years to be the oldest known recording of music.
  • 1889 – Hyde Park and several other Illinois townships vote to be annexed by Chicago, forming the largest United States city in area and second largest in population at the time.
  • 1915 – The North Saskatchewan River flood of 1915 is the worst flood in Edmonton history.
  • 1916 – British diplomat turned Irish nationalist Roger Casement is sentenced to death for his part in the Easter Rising.
  • 1922 – France grants 1 km2 at Vimy Ridge “freely, and for all time, to the Government of Canada, the free use of the land exempt from all taxes”.
  • 1927 – The Bird of Paradise, a U.S. Army Air Corps Fokker tri-motor, completes the first transpacific flight, from the mainland United States to Hawaii.
  • 1945 – The Soviet Union annexes the Czechoslovak province of Carpathian Ruthenia.
  • 1950 – Korean War: U.S. President Harry S. Truman authorizes a sea blockade of Korea.
  • 1956 – The Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956 is signed by U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower, officially creating the United States Interstate Highway System.
  • 1972 – The United States Supreme Court rules in the case Furman v. Georgia that arbitrary and inconsistent imposition of the death penalty violates the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments and constitutes cruel and unusual punishment.
  • 1974 – Vice President Isabel Perón assumes powers and duties as Acting President of Argentina, while her husband President Juan Peron is terminally ill.
  • 1974 – Mikhail Baryshnikov defects from the Soviet Union to Canada while on tour with the Kirov Ballet.
  • 1975 – Steve Wozniak tested his first prototype of Apple I computer.
  • 1976 – The Seychelles become independent from the United Kingdom.
  • 1976 – The Conference of Communist and Workers Parties of Europe convenes in East Berlin.
  • 1987 – Vincent Van Gogh’s painting, the Le Pont de Trinquetaille, was bought for $20.4 million at an auction in London, England.
  • 1995 – Space Shuttle program: STS-71 Mission (Atlantis) docks with the Russian space station Mir for the first time.
  • 1995 – The Sampoong Department Store collapses in the Seocho District of Seoul, South Korea, killing 501 and injuring 937.
  • 2002 – Naval clashes between South Korea and North Korea lead to the death of six South Korean sailors and sinking of a North Korean vessel.
  • 2006 – Hamdan v. Rumsfeld: The U.S. Supreme Court rules that President George W. Bush’s plan to try Guantanamo Bay detainees in military tribunals violates U.S. and international law.
  • 2007 – Apple Inc. releases its first mobile phone, the iPhone.
  • 2012 – A derecho sweeps across the eastern United States, leaving at least 22 people dead and millions without power.
  • 2014 – The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant self-declared its caliphate in Syria and northern Iraq.

Births on June 29

  • 1136 – Petronilla of Aragon (d. 1173)
  • 1326 – Murad I, Ottoman Sultan (d. 1389)
  • 1398 – John II of Aragon and Navarre (d. 1479)
  • 1443 – Anthony Browne, English knight (d. 1506)
  • 1482 – Maria of Aragon, Queen of Portugal (d. 1517)
  • 1488 – Pedro Pacheco de Villena, Catholic cardinal (d. 1560)
  • 1517 – Rembert Dodoens, Flemish physician and botanist (d. 1585)
  • 1525 – Peter Agricola, German humanist, theologian, diplomat and statesman (d. 1585)
  • 1528 – Julius, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (d. 1589)
  • 1543 – Christine of Hesse, Duchess consort of Holstein-Gottorp (d. 1604)
  • 1596 – Emperor Go-Mizunoo of Japan (d. 1680)
  • 1621 – Willem van der Zaan, Dutch Admiral (d. 1669)
  • 1686 – Pietro Paolo Troisi, Maltese artist (d. 1743)
  • 1746 – Joachim Heinrich Campe, German linguist, author, and educator (d. 1818)
  • 1768 – Vincenzo Dimech, Maltese sculptor (d. 1831)
  • 1787 – Lavinia Stoddard, American poet, school founder (d. 1820)
  • 1793 – Josef Ressel, Czech-Austrian inventor, invented the propeller (d. 1857)
  • 1798 – Willibald Alexis, German author and poet (d. 1871)
  • 1798 – Giacomo Leopardi, Italian poet and philosopher (d. 1837)
  • 1801 – Frédéric Bastiat, French economist and theorist (d. 1850)
  • 1803 – John Newton Brown, American minister and author (d. 1868)
  • 1818 – Angelo Secchi, Italian astronomer and academic (d. 1878)
  • 1819 – Thomas Dunn English, American poet, playwright, and politician (d. 1902)
  • 1833 – Peter Waage, Norwegian chemist and academic (d. 1900)
  • 1835 – Celia Thaxter, American poet and story writer (d. 1894)
  • 1844 – Peter I of Serbia (d. 1921)
  • 1849 – Pedro Montt, Chilean lawyer and politician, 15th President of Chile (d. 1910)
  • 1849 – Sergei Witte, Russian politician, 1st Chairmen of Council of Ministers of the Russian Empire (d. 1915)
  • 1849 – John Hunn, American businessman and politician, 51st Governor of Delaware (d. 1926)
  • 1858 – George Washington Goethals, American general and engineer, co-designed the Panama Canal (d. 1928)
  • 1858 – Julia Lathrop, American activist and politician (d. 1932)
  • 1861 – William James Mayo, American physician and surgeon, co-founded the Mayo Clinic (d. 1939)
  • 1863 – Wilbert Robinson, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 1934)
  • 1866 – Bartholomeus Roodenburch, Dutch swimmer (d. 1939)
  • 1868 – George Ellery Hale, American astronomer and journalist (d. 1938)
  • 1870 – Joseph Carl Breil, American tenor, composer, and director (d. 1926)
  • 1873 – Leo Frobenius, German ethnologist and archaeologist (d. 1938)
  • 1879 – Benedetto Aloisi Masella, Italian cardinal (d. 1970)
  • 1880 – Ludwig Beck, German general (d. 1944)
  • 1881 – Harry Frazee, American director, producer, and agent (d. 1929)
  • 1881 – Curt Sachs, German-American composer and musicologist (d. 1959)
  • 1882 – Henry Hawtrey, English runner (d. 1961)
  • 1882 – Franz Seldte, German captain and politician, Reich Minister for Labour (d. 1947)
  • 1886 – Robert Schuman, Luxembourgian-French lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of France (d. 1963)
  • 1888 – Squizzy Taylor, Australian gangster (d. 1927)
  • 1889 – Willie Macfarlane, Scottish-American golfer (d. 1961)
  • 1890 – Robert Laurent, American sculptor and academic (d. 1970)
  • 1890 – Hendrikje van Andel-Schipper, Dutch supercentenarian (d. 2005)
  • 1893 – Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis, Indian economist and statistician (d. 1972)
  • 1893 – Aarre Merikanto, Finnish composer and educator (d. 1958)
  • 1897 – Fulgence Charpentier, Canadian journalist and publisher (d. 2001)
  • 1898 – Yvonne Lefébure, French pianist and educator (d. 1986)
  • 1900 – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, French poet and pilot (d. 1944)
  • 1901 – Nelson Eddy, American singer and actor (d. 1967)
  • 1903 – Alan Blumlein, English engineer, developed the H2S radar (d. 1942)
  • 1904 – Witold Hurewicz, Polish mathematician (d. 1956)
  • 1906 – Ivan Chernyakhovsky, Ukrainian general (d. 1945)
  • 1906 – Heinz Harmel, German general (d. 2000)
  • 1908 – Leroy Anderson, American composer and conductor (d. 1975)
  • 1908 – Erik Lundqvist, Swedish javelin thrower (d. 1963)
  • 1910 – Frank Loesser, American composer and conductor (d. 1969)
  • 1910 – Burgess Whitehead, American baseball player (d. 1993)
  • 1911 – Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld (d. 2004)
  • 1911 – Katherine DeMille, Canadian-American actress (d. 1995)
  • 1911 – Bernard Herrmann, American composer and conductor (d. 1975)
  • 1912 – José Pablo Moncayo, Mexican pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1958)
  • 1912 – Émile Peynaud, French oenologist and academic (d. 2004)
  • 1912 – John Toland, American historian and author (d. 2004)
  • 1913 – Earle Meadows, American pole vaulter (d. 1992)
  • 1914 – Rafael Kubelík, Czech-American conductor and composer (d. 1996)
  • 1914 – Christos Papakyriakopoulos, Greek-American mathematician and academic (d. 1976)
  • 1916 – Ruth Warrick, American actress and activist (d. 2005)
  • 1917 – Ling Yun, Chinese politician (d. 2018)
  • 1918 – Heini Lohrer, Swiss ice hockey player (d. 2011)
  • 1918 – Gene La Rocque, U.S admiral (d. 2016)
  • 1918 – Francis W. Nye, United States Air Force major general (d. 2019)
  • 1919 – Ernesto Corripio y Ahumada, Mexican cardinal (d. 2008)
  • 1919 – Walter Babington Thomas, Commander of British Far East Land Forces (d. 2017)
  • 1919 – Slim Pickens, American actor and rodeo performer (d. 1983)
  • 1920 – César Rodríguez Álvarez, Spanish footballer and manager (d. 1995)
  • 1920 – Ray Harryhausen, American animator and producer (d. 2013)
  • 1920 – Nicole Russell, Duchess of Bedford (d. 2012)
  • 1921 – Frédéric Dard, French author and screenwriter (d. 2000)
  • 1921 – Jean Kent, English actress (d. 2013)
  • 1921 – Reinhard Mohn, German businessman (d. 2009)
  • 1921 – Harry Schell, French-American race car driver (d. 1960)
  • 1922 – Ralph Burns, American songwriter, bandleader, composer, conductor, arranger and pianist (d. 2001)
  • 1922 – Vasko Popa, Serbian poet and academic (d. 1991)
  • 1922 – John William Vessey, Jr., American general (d. 2016)
  • 1923 – Chou Wen-chung, Chinese-American composer and educator (d. 2019)
  • 1924 – Ezra Laderman, American composer and educator (d. 2015)
  • 1924 – Roy Walford, American pathologist and gerontologist (d. 2004)
  • 1924 – Philip H. Hoff, American politician (d. 2018)
  • 1925 – Francis S. Currey, American World War II Medal of Honor recipient (d. 2019)
  • 1925 – Giorgio Napolitano, Italian journalist and politician, 11th President of Italy
  • 1925 – Chan Parker, American dancer and author (d. 1999)
  • 1925 – Jackie Lynn Taylor, American actress (d. 2014)
  • 1925 – Cara Williams, American actress
  • 1926 – Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, Kuwaiti ruler, 3rd Emir of Kuwait (d. 2006)
  • 1926 – Julius W. Becton, Jr., U.S lieutenant general
  • 1926 – Roger Stuart Bacon, Nova Scotia politician
  • 1926 – Bobby Morgan, American professional baseball player
  • 1927 – Pierre Perrault, Canadian director and screenwriter (d. 1999)
  • 1927 – Marie Thérèse Killens, Canadian politician
  • 1928 – Ian Bannen, Scottish actor (d. 1999)
  • 1928 – Jean-Louis Pesch, French author and illustrator
  • 1928 – Radius Prawiro, Indonesian economist and politician (d. 2005)
  • 1929 – Pat Crawford Brown, American actress
  • 1929 – Pete George, American weightlifter
  • 1929 – Oriana Fallaci, Italian journalist and author (d. 2006)
  • 1930 – Ernst Albrecht, German economist and politician, 6th Prime Minister of Lower Saxony (d. 2014)
  • 1930 – Robert Evans, American actor and producer (d. 2019)
  • 1930 – Viola Léger, American-Canadian actress and politician
  • 1930 – Sławomir Mrożek, Polish-French author and playwright (d. 2013)
  • 1931 – Sevim Burak, Turkish author (d. 1983)
  • 1932 – Brian Hutton, Baron Hutton, British jurist; Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland
  • 1933 – Bob Shaw, American baseball player and manager (d. 2010)
  • 1933 – John Bradshaw, American theologian and author (d. 2016)
  • 1934 – Corey Allen, American actor, director, and producer (d. 2010)
  • 1935 – Vassilis C. Constantakopoulos, Greek captain and businessman (d. 2011)
  • 1935 – Katsuya Nomura, Japanese baseball player and manager
  • 1936 – Harmon Killebrew, American baseball player and sportscaster (d. 2011)
  • 1939 – Alan Connolly, Australian cricketer
  • 1939 – Amarildo Tavares da Silveira, Brazilian footballer and coach
  • 1940 – Vyacheslav Artyomov, Russian composer
  • 1940 – John Dawes, Welsh rugby player and coach
  • 1941 – John Boccabella, American baseball player
  • 1941 – Stokely Carmichael, Trinidadian-American activist (d. 1998)
  • 1942 – Charlotte Bingham, English author and screenwriter
  • 1942 – Mike Willesee, Australian journalist and producer (d. 2019)
  • 1943 – Little Eva, American singer (d. 2003)
  • 1943 – Louis Nicollin, French entrepreneur and chairman of Montpellier HSC (d. 2017)
  • 1944 – Gary Busey, American actor
  • 1944 – Andreu Mas-Colell, Spanish economist, academic, and politician
  • 1944 – Seán Patrick O’Malley, American cardinal
  • 1945 – Chandrika Kumaratunga, Sri Lankan journalist and politician, 5th President of Sri Lanka
  • 1946 – Ernesto Pérez Balladares, Panamanian politician, 33rd President of Panama
  • 1946 – Egon von Fürstenberg, Swiss fashion designer (d. 2004)
  • 1947 – Richard Lewis, American actor and screenwriter
  • 1948 – Sean Bergin, South African-Dutch saxophonist and flute player (d. 2012)
  • 1948 – Fred Grandy, American actor and politician
  • 1948 – Ian Paice, English drummer, songwriter, and producer
  • 1948 – Usha Prashar, Baroness Prashar, Kenyan-English politician
  • 1949 – Dan Dierdorf, American football player and sportscaster
  • 1949 – Joan Clos, Spanish anesthesiologist and politician, 116th Mayor of Barcelona
  • 1949 – Ann Veneman, American lawyer and politician, 27th United States Secretary of Agriculture
  • 1950 – Bobby London, American illustrator
  • 1951 – Craig Sager, American sportscaster (d. 2016)
  • 1953 – Don Dokken, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1953 – Colin Hay, Scottish-Australian singer and guitarist
  • 1954 – Rick Honeycutt, American baseball player and coach
  • 1954 – Leovegildo Lins da Gama Júnior, Brazilian footballer, coach, and manager
  • 1955 – Charles J. Precourt, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut
  • 1956 – Nick Fry, English economist and businessman
  • 1956 – David Burroughs Mattingly, American illustrator and painter
  • 1956 – Pedro Guerrero, Dominican-American baseball player and manager
  • 1956 – Pedro Santana Lopes, Portuguese lawyer and politician, 118th Prime Minister of Portugal
  • 1956 – Pyotr Vasilevsky, Belarusian footballer and manager (d. 2012)
  • 1957 – Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, Turkmen dentist and politician, 2nd President of Turkmenistan
  • 1957 – María Conchita Alonso, Cuban-Venezuelan singer and actress
  • 1957 – Robert Forster, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1957 – Michael Nutter, American politician, 98th Mayor of Philadelphia
  • 1957 – Terry Wyatt, English physicist and academic
  • 1958 – Dieter Althaus, German politician
  • 1958 – Rosa Mota, Portuguese runner
  • 1961 – Sharon Lawrence, American actress, singer, and dancer
  • 1962 – Amanda Donohoe, English actress
  • 1962 – Joan Laporta, Spanish lawyer and politician
  • 1962 – George D. Zamka, American colonel, pilot, and astronaut
  • 1963 – Anne-Sophie Mutter, German violinist
  • 1964 – Stedman Pearson, English singer-songwriter and dancer
  • 1965 – Tripp Eisen, American guitarist
  • 1965 – Paul Jarvis, English cricketer
  • 1966 – Yoko Kamio, Japanese author and comic artist
  • 1967 – Jeff Burton, American race car driver
  • 1967 – Melora Hardin, American actress and singer
  • 1967 – Seamus McGarvey, Northern Irish cinematographer
  • 1968 – Brian d’Arcy James, American actor and musician
  • 1968 – Theoren Fleury, Canadian ice hockey player
  • 1968 – Judith Hoag, American actress and educator
  • 1969 – Claude Béchard, Canadian politician (d. 2010)
  • 1969 – Pavlos Dermitzakis, Greek footballer and manager
  • 1969 – Tōru Hashimoto, Japanese lawyer and politician
  • 1970 – Melanie Paschke, German sprinter
  • 1970 – Emily Skinner, American actress and singer
  • 1971 – Matthew Good, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist
  • 1973 – George Hincapie, American cyclist
  • 1976 – Daniel Carlsson, Swedish race car driver
  • 1976 – Bret McKenzie, New Zealand comedian, actor, musician, songwriter, and producer
  • 1977 – Sotiris Liberopoulos, Greek footballer
  • 1977 – Zuleikha Robinson, English actress
  • 1978 – Nicole Scherzinger, American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actress
  • 1979 – Matthew Bode, Australian footballer
  • 1979 – Andy O’Brien, English footballer
  • 1979 – Marleen Veldhuis, Dutch swimmer
  • 1980 – Katherine Jenkins, Welsh soprano and actress
  • 1981 – Luke Branighan, Australian rugby league player
  • 1981 – Joe Johnson, American basketball player
  • 1981 – Nicolás Vuyovich, Argentinian race car driver (d. 2005)
  • 1981 – Shmuly Yanklowitz, American rabbi, author, and educator
  • 1982 – Dusty Hughes, American baseball player
  • 1982 – Lily Rabe, American actress
  • 1983 – Aundrea Fimbres, American singer-songwriter and dancer
  • 1983 – Jeremy Powers, American cyclist
  • 1984 – Aleksandr Shustov, Russian high jumper
  • 1985 – Quintin Demps, American football player
  • 1986 – José Manuel Jurado, Spanish footballer
  • 1986 – Edward Maya, Romanian singer-songwriter and producer
  • 1988 – Éver Banega, Argentinian footballer
  • 1990 – Kim Little, Scottish footballer
  • 1990 – Yann M’Vila, French footballer
  • 1991 – Suk Hyun-jun, South Korean footballer
  • 1991 – Kawhi Leonard, American basketball player
  • 1991 – Addison Timlin, American actress
  • 1993 – Harrison Gilbertson, Australian actor
  • 1994 – Camila Mendes, American actress and model
  • 1996 – Joseph Manu, New Zealand rugby league player
  • 1998 – Michael Porter Jr., American basketball player
  • 2006 – Sam Lavagnino, American child voice actor

Deaths on June 29

  • 226 – Cao Pi, Chinese emperor (b. 187)
  • 884 – Yang Shili, general of the Tang Dynasty
  • 976 – Gero, archbishop of Cologne
  • 1059 – Bernard II, Duke of Saxony (b. 995)
  • 1149 – Raymond of Poitiers, Prince of Antioch (b. 1115)
  • 1153 – Óláfr Guðrøðarson, King of the Isles
  • 1252 – Abel, King of Denmark (b. 1218)
  • 1293 – Henry of Ghent, philosopher (b. c.1217)
  • 1315 – Ramon Llull, Spanish philosopher (b. 1235)
  • 1344 – Joan of Savoy, duchess consort of Brittany, throne claimant of Savoy (b. 1310)
  • 1374 – Jan Milíč of Kroměříž, Czech priest and reformer
  • 1432 – Janus of Cyprus (b. 1375)
  • 1509 – Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond and Derby (b. 1443)
  • 1520 – Moctezuma II, Aztec ruler (b. 1466)
  • 1575 – Baba Nobuharu, Japanese samurai (b. 1515)
  • 1594 – Niels Kaas, Danish politician, Chancellor of Denmark (b. 1535)
  • 1626 – Scipione Cobelluzzi, Italian cardinal and archivist (b. 1564)
  • 1646 – Laughlin Ó Cellaigh, Gaelic-Irish Lord
  • 1725 – Arai Hakuseki, Japanese philosopher, academic, and politician (b. 1657)
  • 1729 – Edward Taylor, American-English poet, pastor, and physician (b. circa 1642)
  • 1744 – André Campra, French composer and conductor (b. 1660)
  • 1764 – Ralph Allen, English businessman and philanthropist (b. 1693)
  • 1779 – Anton Raphael Mengs, German painter (b. 1728)
  • 1831 – Heinrich Friedrich Karl vom und zum Stein, Prussian minister and politician (b. 1757)
  • 1840 – Lucien Bonaparte, French prince (b. 1775)
  • 1852 – Henry Clay, American lawyer and politician, 9th United States Secretary of State (b. 1777)
  • 1853 – Adrien-Henri de Jussieu, French botanist and academic (b. 1797)
  • 1855 – John Gorrie, American physician and humanitarian (b. 1803)
  • 1860 – Thomas Addison, English physician and endocrinologist (b. 1793)
  • 1861 – Elizabeth Barrett Browning, English poet and translator (b. 1806)
  • 1873 – Michael Madhusudan Dutt, Indian poet and playwright (b. 1824)
  • 1875 – Ferdinand I of Austria (b. 1793)
  • 1895 – Thomas Henry Huxley, English biologist (b. 1825)
  • 1900 – Ivan Mikheevich Pervushin, Russian mathematician and academic (b. 1827)
  • 1907 – Konstantinos Volanakis, Greek painter and academic (b. 1837)
  • 1919 – José Gregorio Hernández Venezuelan physician and educator (b. 1864)
  • 1931 – Nérée Beauchemin, Canadian poet and physician (b. 1850)
  • 1933 – Roscoe Arbuckle, American actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1887)
  • 1935 – Jack O’Neill, Irish-American baseball player and manager (b. 1873)
  • 1936 – János Szlepecz, Slovene priest and missionary (b. 1872)
  • 1940 – Paul Klee, Swiss painter and illustrator (b. 1879)
  • 1941 – Ignacy Jan Paderewski, Polish pianist, composer, and politician, 2nd Prime Minister of Poland (b. 1860)
  • 1942 – Paul Troje, German politician, Mayor of Marburg (b. 1864)
  • 1949 – Themistoklis Sofoulis, Greek politician, 115th Prime Minister of Greece (b. 1860)
  • 1955 – Max Pechstein, German painter and academic (b. 1881)
  • 1960 – Frank Patrick, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (b. 1885)
  • 1962 – Charles Lyon Chandler, American historian (b. 1883)
  • 1964 – Eric Dolphy, American saxophonist, composer, and bandleader (b. 1928)
  • 1967 – Primo Carnera, Italian boxer and actor (b. 1906)
  • 1967 – Jayne Mansfield, American actress (b. 1933)
  • 1969 – Moise Tshombe, Congolese accountant and politician, Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (b. 1919)
  • 1971 – Nestor Mesta Chayres, Mexican operatic tenor and bolero vocalist (b. 1908)
  • 1975 – Tim Buckley, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1947)
  • 1978 – Bob Crane, American actor (b. 1928)
  • 1979 – Lowell George, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (b. 1945)
  • 1980 – Jorge Basadre, Peruvian historian (b. 1903)
  • 1981 – Russell Drysdale, English-Australian painter (b. 1912)
  • 1982 – Pierre Balmain, French fashion designer, founded Balmain (b. 1914)
  • 1982 – Henry King, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1886)
  • 1986 – Frank Wise, Australian politician, 16th Premier of Western Australia (b. 1897)
  • 1990 – Irving Wallace, American author and screenwriter (b. 1916)
  • 1992 – Mohamed Boudiaf, Algerian soldier and politician, President of Algeria (b. 1919)
  • 1993 – Héctor Lavoe, Puerto Rican-American singer-songwriter (b. 1946)
  • 1994 – Kurt Eichhorn, German conductor and educator (b. 1908)
  • 1995 – Lana Turner, American actress (b. 1921)
  • 1997 – William Hickey, American actor (b. 1927)
  • 1998 – Horst Jankowski, German pianist and composer (b. 1936)
  • 1999 – Karekin I, Syrian-Armenian patriarch (b. 1950)
  • 1999 – Allan Carr, American screenwriter and producer (b. 1937)
  • 2000 – Vittorio Gassman, Italian actor and director (b. 1922)
  • 2002 – Rosemary Clooney, American singer and actress (b. 1928)
  • 2003 – Katharine Hepburn, American actress (b. 1907)
  • 2004 – Bernard Babior, American physician and biochemist (b. 1935)
  • 2004 – Alvin Hamilton, Canadian lieutenant and politician, 18th Canadian Minister of Agriculture (b. 1912)
  • 2006 – Fabián Bielinsky, Argentinian director and screenwriter (b. 1959)
  • 2006 – Randy Walker, American football player and coach (b. 1954)
  • 2007 – Fred Saberhagen, American soldier and author (b. 1930)
  • 2007 – Joel Siegel, American journalist and critic (b. 1943)
  • 2009 – Joe Bowman, American, target shooter and boot-maker (b. 1925)
  • 2011 – K. D. Sethna, Indian poet, scholar, writer, philosopher, and cultural critic (b. 1904)
  • 2012 – Yong Nyuk Lin, Singaporean politician, Singaporean Minister of Health (b. 1918)
  • 2012 – Vincent Ostrom, American political scientist and academic (b. 1919)
  • 2012 – Juan Reccius, Chilean triple jumper (b. 1911)
  • 2012 – Floyd Temple, American baseball player, coach, and manager (b. 1926)
  • 2013 – Peter Fitzgerald, Irish footballer and manager (b. 1937)
  • 2013 – Jack Gotta, American-Canadian football player, coach, and manager (b. 1929)
  • 2013 – Margherita Hack, Italian astrophysicist and author (b. 1922)
  • 2013 – Gilma Jiménez, Colombian politician (b. 1956)
  • 2014 – Damian D’Oliveira, South African cricketer (b. 1960)
  • 2014 – Dermot Healy, Irish author, poet, and playwright (b. 1947)
  • 2015 – Hisham Barakat, Egyptian lawyer and judge (b. 1950)
  • 2015 – Josef Masopust, Czech footballer and coach (b. 1931)
  • 2015 – Charles Pasqua, French businessman and politician, French Minister of the Interior (b. 1927)
  • 2016 – Jan Hettema, Springbok cyclist and five times South African National Rally Champion (b. 1933)
  • 2017 – Louis Nicollin, French entrepreneur and chairman of Montpellier HSC from 1974 to his death (b. 1943)
  • 2017 – Dave Semenko, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1957)
  • 2018 – Steve Ditko, American comic writer and illustrator (b. 1927)
  • 2020 – Carl Reiner, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1922)

Holidays and observances on June 29

  • Christian feast day:
    • Cassius of Narni
    • Feast of Saints Peter and Paul (Western Christianity), and its related observances:
      • Haro Wine Festival (Haro, La Rioja)
      • l-Imnarja (Malta)
    • June 29 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
  • Engineer’s Day (Ecuador)
  • Independence Day (Seychelles), celebrates the independence of Seychelles from the United Kingdom in 1976.
  • Veterans’ Day (Netherlands)

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